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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will depart for San Francisco, the United States, tonight (September 14) to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Women and the Economy Summit (WES) being staged there this week.
The summit brings together senior public and private sector players for a dialogue on fostering women's economic empowerment among the APEC economies. The summit will focus on four themes: improving access to capital, access to markets, capacity and skills building, and women's leadership. The dialogue will support a set of policy recommendations that will be delivered to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November this year.
Mr Cheung will attend a number of WES events and speak at the High-Level Policy Dialogue on September 16, which will be chaired by the United States Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, and attended by senior Secretaries and Ministers of APEC economies.
The Hong Kong delegation members include the Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, United States, Mr Donald Tong, and representatives of the Women's Commission and other women's organisations, as well as women leaders from the private sector.
Mr Cheung will also attend an APEC WES Reception on September 15, during which Executive Council Member, Ms Marjorie Yang, and the Dean of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Professor Nancy Ip, will be honoured among 42 Leading Women Innovators selected from 21 economies for their achievements.
Taking the opportunity of his short stay in San Francisco, Mr Cheung will visit a food bank and a seniors' centre to understand the social welfare services provided by non-profit organisations there.
Mr Cheung will return to Hong Kong on Sunday morning (September 18).
Ends/Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Issued at HKT 15:05
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