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Speech by CE at HKTB's "Hong Kong: Live in Jakarta" Citywide Promotion opening ceremony (English only) (with photos)
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     Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at the opening ceremony of the "Hong Kong: Live in Jakarta" Citywide Promotion organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in Jakarta, Indonesia, this afternoon (September 17):

Peter, ladies and gentlemen,

     Good evening. Welcome to "Hong Kong: Live in Jakarta", a super citywide promotion presented by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

     In a few minutes, it will be my pleasure to present, to a lucky winner from Jakarta, the Tourism Board's "VIP Experience Trip to Hong Kong" prize - four memorable days and three fabulous nights for two to Hong Kong.

     Now I may be just a little biased, but it seems to me that any trip to Hong Kong will make you feel like winning a lottery.

     I'm sure the good people from the Hong Kong Tourism Board will agree with me on that. And they're not alone. They're here with representatives from seven of Hong Kong's many must-see attractions: Big Bus Hong Kong, Ngong Ping 360, Ocean Park Hong Kong, PMQ, the Sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck, the Trick Eye Museum and Hong Kong Disneyland, this year celebrating its 10th happy anniversary.

     Last year, Hong Kong was the world's 11th most popular tourism destination. Yes, our city of 7.2 million welcomed some 61 million visitors in 2014 - from the Mainland of China, from the Asian region and from around the world.

     They came for the world-class shopping, for our storied East-West culture and for the sky-high skyline views. They came, as well, for our cuisine. The 2015 edition of the Michelin Guide Hong Kong & Macau, by the way, features more than 60 Hong Kong starred restaurants.

     They came, too, for our two world-class theme parks and our new Hong Kong Observation Wheel. Rising 60 metres above Victoria Harbour, the grand wheel offers magnificent views of Hong Kong, day and night. Our theme parks are expanding too, adding hotels and a serious helping of thrills and spills. If you're a Marvel fan, you'll be happy to know that Hong Kong Disneyland is opening an Iron Man theme area next year. And we're in discussions now with Disneyland on its Phase 2 development.

     Soon enough, our visitors would also be coming for our West Kowloon Cultural District, perhaps the world's most spectacular cultural development. The District is now taking creative shape in 40 hectares of prime harbour space.

     The Arts Pavilion within the District is scheduled to open by 2016, to be followed by the park, black-box theatre, Xiqu Centre for Chinese opera, and M+, a 60,000-square-metre museum spotlighting a wealth of visual culture. Upon completion, it would no doubt become a hub of arts and culture, offering visitors a taste of our unique and yet colourful culture.

     Last year, I'm pleased to note, our visitors included nearly 500,000 Indonesians, making Indonesia Hong Kong's 13th largest visitor market. It helps that there are more than 90 weekly flights between Hong Kong and Indonesia. And let's not forget, you can come to Hong Kong by cruise - we opened our Kai Tak Cruise Terminal two years ago. The terminal, itself already an iconic landmark situated at the heart of our dazzling Victoria Harbour, can welcome the largest cruise vessels afloat.

     In the coming year, we look forward to welcoming more of you to holiday in Hong Kong. For a million remarkable reasons.

     Thank you.

Ends/Thursday, September 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:53

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