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More than 500 university students in Ontario and British Columbia will participate in an informative and interactive career video conference tomorrow (March 10, Canada time) simultaneously in Toronto, London and Vancouver to explore career opportunities in Hong Kong, the launch-pad for mainland Chinese enterprises to develop a global presence.
The annual video conference, now in its fourth year, has grown in popularity among Canadian university students. In view of the increased participants from various universities, this year's video conference is to be held at three different venues, instead of just two as in previous years. The University of Western Ontario is the additional venue in 2006.
Zeal for taking up a career path to China has prompted students from other ethnic groups to join the conference. The language for conducting the conference is therefore shifted to English, instead of Cantonese, to accommodate more English-speaking students.
The cross-Pacific video conference will connect the Canadian students to human resources and career development experts in Hong Kong, Asia's world city, by providing them with latest career information and useful advice on career opportunities in various sectors in Hong Kong.
Organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, jointly with the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the video conference will be hosted in two separate places by the HKETO Director, Mr Bassanio So in Toronto; Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Industry (Acting), Mr Philip Yung, and Mr HS Chan of CLP Power (Hong Kong) Limited in Hong Kong.
"Many university students believe that working in Hong Kong for a few years will definitely help their career development and allow them to learn more about China, the global economic powerhouse of the future," said HKETO Director Mr Bassanio So.
"On the other hand, the HKSAR Government wants to encourage more foreign-trained talents to ride the wave of economic success in Hong Kong, and to play a role in the economic integration between Hong Kong and China," he said.
"We hope to attract Canada-trained Hong Kong students to return to pursue their career in Hong Kong and bring their international perspectives to the Hong Kong's business community", Mr So added.
According to the HKETO Director, the conference attracted 350 participants last year, and so far over 500 Canadian university students have registered.
Business leaders from Hong Kong will share with the participants career opportunities in their respective professions. Graduates from Canadian universities now working in Hong Kong will also talk about their experience in finding a job in Hong Kong and in adjusting to the Hong Kong working style.
Five guest speakers from Hong Kong's business and professional services sectors will be participating as panelists. They are Mr Barry Macdonald, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mr Alan Yip of Yip Design Ltd; Ms Sonya Wu, Managing Director, Aspirations Ltd; Mr HS Chan, HR Manager-Power System, CLP Power (Hong Kong) Limited., as well as a recent Canadian university graduate, Ms Xenos Hung, who is currently completing a Graduate Engineering Trainee program in Hong Kong.
The career video conference will be held simultaneously tomorrow (March 10, Canada time) at 7.30pm (Ontario time) at the HKETO in Toronto, as well as the Richard Ivey School in London; at 4.30pm (Vancouver time) at the Asia Pacific Hall of the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver; and tomorrow (March 11, Hong Kong time) at 8.30am, at the CITB in Hong Kong.
Participating students, mostly representing Hong Kong student associations, are from the following universities: the University of Toronto, York University, Queen's University, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario, McMaster University, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and University of Victoria.
The video conference will also be webcast live by Radio Television Hong Kong at http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/careervideoconference2006 on Saturday (March 11) at 8.30am (Hong Kong time).
Ends/Friday, March 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:09
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