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The Financial Secretary Mr Henry Tang will visit Geneva, Switzerland, and Cannes, France, next week.
Mr Tang will arrive at Geneva, the first stop of his duty visit, on May 14. He will meet the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Mr Pascal Lamy. Mr Tang will also join a lunch meeting organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Geneva) with the ambassadors to WTO of various member economies. He will reaffirm Hong Kong's continued commitment to improve multilateral trade rules and systems.
During his stay in Switzerland, Mr Tang will call on the Federal Minister of Finance Mr Hans-Rudolf Merz and meet representatives of the Swiss banking community, including members and president of the Swiss Banker's Association Mr Pierre Mirabaud and members of the Swiss Private Bankers' Association.
Mr Tang will brief the Swiss banking community on the recent development and growth potential of Hong Kong's financial services sector and discuss with them how the financial services sectors in both places can work together to provide better services for each other's clients.
The Financial Secretary will leave Geneva on May 17 for Cannes where he will attend promotional events for the Hong Kong film industry together with other Hong Kong representatives at the Festival de Cannes.
He will visit Cannes Film Market (Marche du Film) on May 18 and attend a lunch with major international film market directors, key representatives of international film associations and Hong Kong film companies.
He will also officiate at the inauguration ceremony of a photo exhibition and cocktail reception celebrating the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival and the success of Hong Kong Film industry. This event will be organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
During the duty visit, Mr Tang will meet representatives of the local media of both Switzerland and France to brief them on the outlook of the Hong Kong economy and business opportunities available to international investors in Hong Kong.
Mr Tang will leave Cannes on May 19 and return to Hong Kong on May 20.
Ends/Monday, May 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:13
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