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Postmaster General and Chairman of the Hong Kong PKI Forum, Mr Luk Ping-chuen announced today (October 22) the establishment of the Hong Kong Public Key Infrastructure Forum (HKPKIF) on October 21, 2002.

Hongkong Post, representing Hong Kong, China, is one of the seven founding members of the Asia PKI Forum (APKIF) formed in June 2001. The other members of APKIF are Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia. Both Macau and India recently joined APKIF as the Associate and Affiliate Members respectively.

Local PKI Forums formed in these economies are industry-led organizations comprising relevant parties from both the government and commercial sectors including Certification Authorities, IT vendors, and professional services providers who are interested in promoting the wider adoption of PKI products and services. Given this environment, Hongkong Post initiated the action of establishing a Hong Kong PKI Forum for representation at the Asia PKI Forum, an idea widely supported by Hong Kong's dynamic business community.

Mr Luk said, "The birth of the HKPKIF signifies the community's awareness of the importance of security in e-commerce and the increasing popularity of using PKI products and services to address the issues of authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation. The public now enjoys greater choice and convenience, and businesses can reduce costs and enhance efficiency through the adoption of PKI technologies."

HKPKIF will represent Hong Kong at international forums including the Asia PKI Forum to foster regional and international co-operation in PKI related matters such as cross-certification, application development, and interoperability arrangements.

Postmaster General, Mr Luk was elected by members as the Chairperson of HKPKIF while Executive Director, Betting, of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Henry Chan, was elected as the Vice-Chairperson.

For further enquiries, please contact Mr Allen Mok on 2921 6085 or email to allen_mok@hkpo.gov.hk.

The Hong Kong PKI Forum consists of 29 members, including:

* AsiaPay (HK) Ltd.

* Baltimore Technologies Ltd.

* Dah Sing Bank, Ltd.

* Deloitte & Touche Enterprise Risk Services Ltd.

* Digi-Sign Certification Services Ltd.

* Diversinet Corporation

* Heracle Technologies Ltd.

* Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong Ltd.

* HiTRUST.COM (HK) Incorporated Ltd.

* Hongkong Post

* Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Ltd.

* IBM China / Hong Kong Ltd.

* IMerchants Ltd.

* i-Security Solutions Ltd.

* Joint Electronic Teller Services (JETCO) Ltd.

* KPMG

* Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd.

* PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd.

* RSA Security

* SecureNet Asia Ltd.

* Sun Microsystems of California Ltd.

* The Chinese University of Hong Kong

* The Bank of East Asia, Ltd.

* The Hong Kong Jockey Club

* The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

* The University of Hong Kong

* TrustAsia (HK) Ltd.

* VeriSign, Inc

* VR Secure Ltd.

End/Tuesday, October 22, 2002

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