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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (HKCPEC):
Nine winning teams comprising 38 young people were awarded for their outstanding project reports on regional economic development and co-operation at the award presentation ceremony of the Youth Learning Project (YLP) on Pacific Economic Cooperation 2008/09 today (April 18) at the Hong Kong Productivity Council Building.
Officiating at the ceremony were Chairman of the HKCPEC, Professor Sung Yun-wing, and Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), Ms Amy Fung. The Director-General of Trade and Industry, Mr Joseph Lai, also attended the ceremony as the guest of honour.
In his opening remarks, Professor Sung said he was pleased to note that the entries of the two categories (the ¡°Secondary School Students¡± and the ¡°Tertiary Students and Young Adults¡±) were of high quality, demonstrating the participants¡¯ concern for economic development in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region.
"We hope that, through participation in the YLP, young people in Hong Kong will be encouraged to utilise their creative thinking to develop innovative suggestions on development strategies and proposals to foster economic growth and development within the region,¡± said Professor Sung.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr Lai highlighted the encouraging results of the YLP, the importance of regional economic co-operation to Hong Kong, as well as the role of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in regional development in the past 20 years. The latter was one of the chosen themes of the YLP this year.
The YLP, jointly organised by the HKCPEC and the HKFYG, aims at encouraging youth groups in Hong Kong to further their understanding of the development of economic co-operation between Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific region. The project also aims at encouraging research and discussion on issues related to economic growth and development within the region.
This year's YLP attracted over 100 teams to participate. The teams had to prepare a project report on one of the five themes:
(i) food crisis and regional co-operation;
(ii) APEC and regional economic co-operation ¡ª opportunities and challenges;
(iii) creative industry ¡ª regional competition and co-operation;
(iv) energy and sustainable development; and
(v) global inflation and its effect on regional economies.
At the ceremony, each winning team was presented with a book voucher, a trophy, a certificate and a set of APEC 20th Anniversary Commemorative Stamps.
The champion teams will also be sponsored to attend the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) General Meeting and Standing Committee Meeting to be held from May 11 to 13 in Washington, DC, USA.
A list of the winning teams and their competition topics will be uploaded to the HKCPEC website: www.hkcpec.org.
The HKCPEC was established in March 1990 to co-ordinate Hong Kong's participation in the PECC. In line with the nature of the PECC, the composition of the HKCPEC is tripartite, comprising members from the government, academia and the business sector.
The PECC is a non-governmental organisation set up in 1980 with the purpose of developing closer co-operation in trade and economic issues among economies in the region.
Currently, PECC has a total of 26 member committees, of which 23 are full members representing the economies of Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Ecuador; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; Mongolia; New Zealand; the Pacific Islands Forum; Peru; the Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and Vietnam. The PECC also has one associate member, France (Pacific Territories), and two institutional members: the Pacific Trade and Development Conference and the Pacific Basin Economic Council.
Ends/Saturday, April 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:41
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