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The City of Magdeburg, the state capital of Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany, hosted the third "Green Cities – Green Industries – Magdeburg" conference from November 24 to 26 (Magdeburg time). The conference, held at the Town Hall of Magdeburg, was attended by government representatives, researchers and entrepreneurs from Europe and Asia, together with an audience of experts, to discuss future scenarios of green and smart cities worldwide and exchange ideas about new technologies and innovative models with which cities can shape global climate change positively.
The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin), Ms Betty Ho, was invited to deliver a keynote presentation at the panel "Low emission due to intelligent mobility", focusing on alternative automotive engineering and intelligent traffic-routing in urban areas. In Hong Kong, 90 per cent of the 7.2 million inhabitants in an area of 1,104 square kilometres rely on the public transport system of which 39 per cent is railway. More than 12.7 million passenger journeys are recorded each day.
Ms Ho outlined the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's (HKSARG) vision of creating a healthy, pleasant and sustainable city where the community places a premium on sustaining its environment for both themselves and future generations, and pursues sustainable development. "Hong Kong's major sources of roadside air pollution are buses. That is why the ultimate policy objective is to have zero-emission buses running across the territory. The HKSAR Government has started a subsidised trial of hybrid and electric buses and offers financial incentives to owners of electric vehicles."
Using the example of Kowloon East where Hong Kong's former airport was located, Ms Ho elaborated on the environmentally friendly linkage system which is being planned in this new central business district. An elevated 9-kilometre monorail system will be the backbone of an integrated multi-modal linkage system in the district to alleviate road congestion and roadside emissions. The ultimate aim is to provide reliable, efficient, comfortable and green connections within the district and with the rest of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has also started a Pilot Green Transport Fund, supporting the testing of green and innovative transport technologies with HK$300 million (31 million Euros). Ms Ho closed her presentation by emphasising the Government's commitment to making Hong Kong a greener city: "The HKSARG is adopting a multi-pronged approach to turn the city into a greener and cleaner metropolis."
About HKETO Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official HKSARG representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Thursday, November 27, 2014
Issued at HKT 23:21
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