************************************************************
Hong Kong scooped a total of 12 awards, out of 157 entries, at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2012 held from December 3 to 5 in Brunei - the best award tally among the 16 participating economies.
The awards include five Winners and seven Merits in 11 categories.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, extended his congratulations to the winners. "The APICTA is a prestigious award programme in the Asia Pacific region. I am proud of Hong Kong's achievements, which are well-deserved and demonstrate the recognition of the ingenuity and excellence of our ICT industry, professionals and students.
"The Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into a leading digital city in the Asia Pacific region. To encourage our ICT practitioners to strive for excellence, we organise the Hong Kong ICT Awards annually to recognise and promote creative but practical ICT solutions and applications. We also encourage and support their participation in regional and international competitions and awards to enhance their exposure and access to different international ICT fora and the global market," he said.
In the past few years, the Government has sponsored Hong Kong student entrants and non-profit community organisations to participate in the APICTA. This year, a total of 12 students received government sponsorship to participate in the event.
"Such support contributes to nurturing ICT talents and raising the profile of the local ICT industry regionally and internationally," Mr So said.
Mr So was also delighted that APICTA had chosen Hong Kong to be the host in 2013. It will be the second time Hong Kong hosts the event, the first being in 2004.
The Deputy Government Chief Information Officer (Policy and Customer Service), Miss Joey Lam, who attended the award presentation dinner cum handover ceremony of host economies in Brunei tonight (December 5), encouraged delegations from other economies to participate in the event in Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Issued at HKT 22:26
NNNN
