************************************************************
Close ties between Hong Kong and the Australian state of Victoria were celebrated at a Chinese New Year reception in Melbourne today (February 22).
The Premier of Victoria, Mr John Brumby, officiated at the event - jointly hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Sydney (HKETO), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Hong Kong-Australia Business Association (Victoria Chapter.)
In thanking Mr Brumby for leading an extended list of distinguished guests and community representatives in attending the reception, HKETO Director Ms Lorna Wong paid tribute to the people of Victoria for overcoming the Black Saturday bushfires a year ago.
"The efforts of the Victorian Government and the people of Victoria, following the tragic Black Saturday bushfires a year ago, have been an inspiration to us all and we continue to admire their resolve and determination as they travel the long road to recovery," Ms Wong said.
Ms Wong highlighted Hong Kong's exceptionally close relationship with Victoria on many fronts, from business to public transport management and the arts.
"Victoria is home to 17,500 people of Hong Kong origin. Many students from Hong Kong choose to study in Victoria. Last year Victoria's exports to Hong Kong increased by 7.9% to more than A$500 million despite the global financial crisis," she said.
"Last year also saw a reinforcement of our close ties through a number of high level exchanges by senior officials, including Premier Brumby's visit to Hong Kong last September.
"Based on this solid foundation, Victoria and Hong Kong continue to build bridges and share expertise in various areas, and one recent example of this was the commencement of the management of Melbourne metropolitan rail network by Metro Trains Melbourne, a consortium led by Hong Kong's MTR Corporation."
Ms Wong noted the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, made a trip to Melbourne last year to visit the cityˇ¦s cultural icons. The visit provided valuable insights to assist with the development of the West Kowloon cultural precinct.
"In September, HKETO will collaborate with Melbourne Cinematheque, for the first time, to host a retrospective of one of Hong Kongˇ¦s most distinguished actresses, Maggie Cheung."
Turning to Hong Kong's important position as the gateway to China, Ms Wong said, "The strategic role was reinforced by our close integration with China's Pearl River Delta region, which by itself is a thriving market with twice the population of Australia."
She said the latest integration plans included a number of very exciting cross-boundary infrastructure projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the high speed rail link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
"The HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is a massive 29-kilometre bridge that will connect Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai in neighbouring Guangdong province. When completed in 2015, it will significantly improve the regional highway network and accessibility to the 50 million customer base in the western part of the Pearl River Delta and beyond."
"In five years' time, Hong Kong will have its first high speed rail link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. This high speed rail will connect Hong Kong with the 16,000 km national high-speed network in China," she said. "This will drastically reduce train travel time to 16 of China's biggest cities, e.g Xiamen in four hours, Shanghai in eight hours and Beijing in 10 hours,"
Ends/Monday, February 22, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:03
NNNN