MII pledges backing for HK telecoms expo
By Li Weitao and Chen Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-25 09:06

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) pledged yesterday not to organize or undertake joint efforts with other organizations to hold international telecoms exhibitions in the mainland in 2006 to support Hong Kong ITU Telecom World 2006, according to Liu Lihua, director-general of MII's General Office.

"This is to avoid exhibitions coinciding with the Hong Kong event," Liu said at a press conference for PT/Expo Comm China 2004, running from tomorrow until Saturday in Beijing.

The annual event is said to be the largest telecoms event in Asia.

"As a result, we will continue to hold PT/Expo Comm China 2005 but cancel PT/Expo Comm China 2006," he said. He said that starting from 2006, the event would be biennial.

Meanwhile, the MII reaffirmed that mainland enterprises would rent at least 20,000-square metres of exhibition area at the ITU Telecom World 2006.

"We will work strenuously with ITU (international telecom union) and the organizing committee for Hong Kong ITU Telecom World 2006 to make preparations," he said.

Hong Kong obtained the right to host ITU telecoms exhibition on June 3, beating out other applicants such as Istanbul, Geneva, Milan and Algiers.

This will be the first time the gala has moved from Geneva since its birth in 1971.

"Hong Kong's abundant experience in holding international exhibitions, distinguished advantages such as infrastructure and services as well as the support from the Chinese Government helped Hong Kong win the competition," said Marion Chan, deputy secretary of Communications and Technology Branch of HK's Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, the organizing committee for HK ITU Telecom World 2006.

She said the event,scheduled for December 4 to 8, 2006, will command an exhibition area of 66,000 square metres.

"The exhibition is now open to worldwide applications," she told China Daily.

"In fact, we are now moving to the promotion period for the upcoming show," she said.

Starting next year, the organizing committee plans to kick off a worldwide roadshow, participating in world-renowned telecom shows, for example, in the United States, France and Germany.

"It will help people have a better understanding of our exhibition," Chan said.

The organizing committee will help provide business facilities for overseas firms who want to join the exhibition.

In another development, the coming PT/Expo Comm China 2004 in Beijing has so far attracted more than 600 delegations from 23 countries and regions, according to Yang Guozhong, general manager of China National Postal and Telecommunications Appliances Corp, the event organizer.

"The exhibition area for the event will be 55,000 square metres. We expect to attract more than 300,000 visitors to the event," he said.

He said telecoms-related hot issues will be discussed during the expo, including third generation (3G)wireless telecommunications, next generation network (NGN), broadband access, multimedia data and telecommunications, optical telecommunications, network convergence, e-commerce and value-added telecommunications services.

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