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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, at the launching ceremony of the "ArtSIA Calendar" website at the Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum 2007 today (July 23):
I am glad to see our plan of setting up the ArtSIA Calendar website has come to fruition. I hope the website will not only be able to arouse wider public interest in the arts programmes of Asia, but will also strengthen the flow of cultural information among the participating Asian countries and create a clustering effect in promoting cultural tourism in the region. I believe this near to one-stop shop service would be an encouraging first step to manifest the cultural exchanges fostered among us through past ACCF meetings into a tangible and substantial realisation.
The website is the concerted efforts of all participating countries and cities. Through the calendar we can enhance our collective efforts to develop stronger government-to-government links across the region in the areas of culture and the arts. It would directly benefit our mutual understanding and reinforce our cultural brand within Asia. I take this opportunity to thank the cultural ministries of the participating partners and their consulates in Hong Kong for collecting and contributing information to this website.
The launch of the website today is only a start. We will continue to fine-tune it to make it more user-friendly and appealing to surfers. I also look forward to more cultural co-operation between us arising from the ACCF in the future.
Thank you.
Ends/Monday, July 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:26
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