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Following is the speech by the Acting Chief Executive, Mr John C Tsang, at the World Ophthalmology Congress 2008 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this morning (June 29):
Prof (Dennis) Lam, Professor (Bruce) Spivey, Professor (Yasuo) Tano, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome personally the World Ophthalmology Congress to Hong Kong for the first time. I am delighted you have chosen Hong Kong – Asia's world city – as the venue for this year's event.
Back in 1857, this Congress started with a meeting of 150 ophthalmologists in Brussels. At that time, Hong Kong was little more than a fishing village on the China coast. How things have changed.
This year, the Congress brings together some 10,000 eye specialists from around the world, including 3,000 from the Mainland of China.
And, Hong Kong has evolved from that fishing village into a modern, international business and financial centre that is the events capital of Asia.
Hosting an event of this scale is always a challenge. In Hong Kong, we do have the soft and hard infrastructure, world-class professional services, as well as the experience and expertise needed to ensure a smooth and successful meeting. Add to that some of the world's best restaurants, and a mind boggling array of retail therapy options, you have the ingredient for a memorable congress.
With about 1,000 guest speakers taking part in more than 200 scientific sessions, this Congress is an ideal platform to connect with experts from different corners of the world, to share ideas and to explore the potential of new advances in medical technology.
These advancements, especially in recent years, have given new hope to millions of visually impaired people around the globe.
There are also new challenges for ophthalmologists with people living longer and being more prone to impaired vision in later life.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are more than 160 million people in the world who are visually impaired and that includes some 40 million people who are blind.
But thanks to breakthroughs in medicine in recent years, and the work of ophthalmologists, up to 75 per cent of blindness is now preventable or treatable. I am confident that collaboration, networking and information sharing at this Congress will lead to further developments in the field so that more people can enjoy the gift of sight.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you will have time to explore Hong Kong during this Congress.
You will find in Hong Kong a safe, welcoming and dynamic city. You will also notice a distinct Olympic feel. In a little over a month, Hong Kong will proudly join the league of Olympic cities. We will be hosting the equestrian events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We are determined to make these the best equestrian events ever, just as I hope that this will be the best Ophthalmology Congress ever.
Finally, I wish you all an exciting and fruitful Congress, and continued success for many years to come.
Have a great time in Hong Kong, and shop a lot. Thank you.
Ends/Sunday, June 29, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:25
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