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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at the Oxford-HKUST Leadership and Public Policy Series Launch Forum "Visions of the City" this morning (January 8):
Council Charirman Martin Cheung, Professor (Tony) Chan, Professor (Andrew) Hamilton, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. I am very pleased to join you all for this Launch Forum. First and foremost, congratulations to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HKUST and the University of Oxford on establishing the Oxford-HKUST Leadership and Public Policy Series. Confident about its success, I wish to claim an association.
When I was the Chief Executive-elect 18 months ago, Sir David Akers-Jones introduced me to Professor Hamilton on a Sunday. It did not take long for us to see the prospects of Hong Kong working together with the Oxford University. What we envision matched with those of Dr Vincent Lo's who then brought in HKUST. These events I believe brought us here together today.
Distinguished scholars and thought leaders from these two world-class universities will provide senior public officers and senior executives with high-quality up-to-date education, who in turn will lead Hong Kong. They will also serve the community and the Country. Through this collaborative initiative, the University of Oxford and HKUST combine international dimensions with local perspectives on leadership and public policy to support our social and economic development and enhance our overall competitiveness as Asia's World City.
Hong Kong is an open society. We have open borders. More importantly, both the people and the government of Hong Kong have open minds. Further, ours is an international city with a fine balance of Eastern and Western influences. As a result, we are sensitive to economic, social and political changes in other parts of the world. Our neighbourhood is complex. Asian countries have very different levels of economic and social developments. Indeed, the political, economic and social systems are very different. Our neighbourhood is fast-changing. Less than 20 years ago, a book was published with the title "Who will feed China?". Today, China worries about diabetes and that's just one example.
My Government attaches great importance to career-long training of civil servants to meet ever higher expectations from the community. The Civil Service Bureau provides a wide range of training and development opportunities to civil servants at different levels to maintain high standards of public administration and leadership. For the political leadership, we also organise occasional seminars. Recently, we had seminars on China's Foreign Affairs, and on the Decision of the Third Plenum of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Later today, in the government office we shall have the Director of the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission talking to my political colleagues on the Province's transport infrastructure projects. This new Public Policy Series will complement the existing programmes and provide a fresh and structured executive education in the public sector.
We welcome and support this new initiative. It will inspire people who have the will to serve Hong Kong. It will broaden our outlook and help us envision, plan and implement.
Both Oxford and HKUST have been key players in advancing knowledge and nurturing leaders on the local and international stage. Their combined strengths will ensure that the Leadership and Public Policy Series will match our needs.
I am delighted that distinguished academics and professionals from the public and private sectors are here to discuss the topic of this Launch Forum, "Visions of the City". Hong Kong is a city of many dimensions. We are an internationally connected metropolis with a high degree of autonomy under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems". We also enjoy strong support of the Country. The National 12th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong's development as China's international financial, trading and transportation centre under "One Country, Two Systems". The Third Plenum has set new targets. Meeting these targets will give Hong Kong new opportunities and challenges. No doubt, today's speakers will enlighten us with their own visions for Hong Kong, which I have often described as the super-connector between the Mainland of China and the rest of the world, and more specifically, as the Chief Finance officer, the Chief Knowledge Officer and the Chief Information Officer of the Country.
Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate HKUST and the University of Oxford on this collaboration. I wish the new Leadership and Public Policy Series a great success.
Thank you, Happy 2014 and a prosperous New Year of the Horse. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Issued at HKT 10:49
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