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Following is the speech by the Acting Chief Executive, Mr Henry Tang, at the opening ceremony of the 20th INTERPOL Asian Regional Conference today (March 5):
Vice-Minister Meng (Hong-wei), Secretary General (Ronald) Noble, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I am happy to join you all here this morning. A very warm welcome to all our guests from overseas, who have travelled a long way to attend this conference.
I am delighted that Hong Kong has been chosen as the venue for the INTERPOL Asian Regional Conference. This is obviously a very important event for all members of the INTERPOL family in Asia, especially in this era of globalisation when we are all concerned about cross-boundary and cross-border crimes. Let me assure you that Hong Kong will continue to do our best to tackle crime at home and beyond our borders.
Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's reunification with our motherland. The unique "One Country, Two Systems" concept for reunification is working well. We continue to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, which includes our separate membership in various international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation and the World Customs Organisation. INTERPOL Hong Kong, China, is a sub-bureau of our National Central Bureau, and continues to work closely with other members around the world. In fact, the hosting of this conference perfectly exemplifies how "One Country, Two Systems" works. Our National Central Bureau is the conference host, while Hong Kong is the host city. This highlights the close relationship and the co-operation that we enjoy with our national law enforcement agencies.
As both a major city in China, and an international city, Hong Kong is fully plugged into our global village. Last year, Hong Kong and Cameroon wildlife enforcement agencies received INTERPOL’s Ecomessage Award. This award recognises co-operation, through the Ecomessage system, which helped track down an illegal smuggling ring. This ring was trafficking ivory from Africa to Southeast Asia. This demonstrates clearly the importance of intelligence sharing in these operations.
Nowadays, cross-border crime needs to be tackled by seamless co-operation among law enforcement agencies. Since Hong Kong joined INTERPOL almost half a century ago, our Police Force has worked closely with fellow members all over the world in intelligence exchange, operational support and joint operations. Drugs, organised crime, money laundering, counterfeiting, cyber crime and terrorism are among the key areas we are tackling. Collectively, we are doing a good job, but there is no room for complacency and we will always seek to improve on it.
Our Police Force makes good use of the opportunity to place officers with the General Secretariat and the Asian Regional Liaison Office of INTERPOL. These placements help broaden the vision and the perspectives of our officers on global law enforcement issues. We will continue to foster a closer partnership with INTERPOL Headquarters and fellow INTERPOL members in the years ahead.
It takes certainly more than a spectacular skyline and state-of-the-art infrastructure for us to claim that we are an international centre for business and finance. A tried and trusted legal system, the rule of law underpinned by an independent judiciary, a level playing field for business, a clean environment, an efficient government and a free flow of information are all fundamental elements of our success and attraction. However, we must not miss out good public order. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our Police Force, we enjoy a reputation as one of the safest cities in the world. We will continue to work hard to maintain and to enhance our competitive advantages.
Ladies and gentlemen, the security capabilities of our nation will come under the closest scrutiny later this year. In just five months, Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics Games. It will be a proud moment for all of us. Here in Hong Kong we have the honour and privilege of staging the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events. This is an exciting time for our country, and for the people of Hong Kong. It is also going to be an enormous challenge for our law enforcement agencies as we shoulder the duty of looking after the safety of athletes, VIPs, spectators and visitors from all around the world, both two-legged and four-legged. Undoubtedly, we will be co-operating with our law enforcement colleagues throughout the region to make sure everything goes smoothly and we have a safe event.
I am sure our fellow INTERPOL colleagues would grab this opportunity to exchange experience in staging world-class events. I hope some of you may even be able to join us for the Olympics. Meanwhile, I wish this conference every success and look forward to seeing closer co-operation throughout this region in our fight against crime. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:03
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