meeting
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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, at the Central Government Offices this morning (October 5) after the meeting of the Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong) of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (English portion):
CS: I am very pleased to announce that the committee that makes policy decisions and gives directions for the organisation of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events held its first meeting today. The full name of this committee is the Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong) of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the 29th Olympiad. The short form is the ¡§Equestrian Committee¡¨. I should emphasise that the Hong Kong committee is contracted by the Beijing Olympic Committee to mount this event. We are not, on our own, the host. This is a constitutional arrangement and that should be made clear.
The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, is the patron and I am the president of this committee. This, we hope, will underline the strong support and commitment of the Hong Kong SAR Government towards the successful mounting of this particular project which is unprecedented in Hong Kong. We have never mounted any Olympic events before. This is the first time and we want to demonstrate to the world that we have the ability and the determination to be successful.
There are four gentlemen now standing beside me. Most of them are familiar faces to you. They are Vice-Presidents of the Equestrian Committee. We have President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong China, the Honourable Timothy Fok; the Executive Vice-President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the 29th Olympiad, Vice-President Mr Yang. In fact, Mr Yang flew from Beijing today to attend this meeting with us. Thank you very much Vice-President. Then, a very familiar face, Ronald Arculli, Hong Kong Jockey Club Chairman, and Dr Patrick Ho who will be the Executive Vice-President. During our first meeting we have confirmed the terms of reference for the Equestrian Committee and we have agreed to set up a limited company under the Companies Ordinance to carry out the implementation work for the events. This particular company will, of course, have a board of directors, and the chairman of that board will be Dr Patrick Ho, who is also the Executive Vice-President. And very soon we will openly recruit a suitable person to fill the post of Chief Executive Officer of the company. The Equestrian Committee this morning also endorsed in principle the proposal to set up a trust fund to promote community participation for the equestrian events. I think the meeting today is very effective and successful and all of us are satisfied about the progress in preparing the events to date. We hope that this project will have the continued support of the people of Hong Kong.
Reporter: Can you tell us the job description ¡K. Are you attempting to find this person in Hong Kong?
CS: First of all I must clarify that this committee is the policy steering committee. The chief executive officer will be serving the new body that is to be set up. It has not yet been set up, but it will be set up very soon under the chairmanship of Dr Patrick Ho. On recruitment, maybe perhaps Dr Ho will say a few words on our intentions.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)
Ends/Wednesday, October 5, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:26
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