HONG KONG, October 10-- The Hong Kong government plans to build a new exhibition center at the Hong Kong International Airport, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said Wednesday when delivering his Policy Address.

To maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness in the longer term, the government will invest a maximum of 2 billion HK dollars (256 million U.S. dollars) into the construction of a new exhibition center at Chek Lap Kok in conjunction with the Airport Authority, Tung said.

"Hong Kong is a top exhibition and conference center in the Asia-Pacific region. Our world-class facilities drive a thriving exhibition industry," Tung added.

Hong Kong was successful last month in winning five bids to host large-scale international conventions between next year and 2010, proving the city's long-term appeal to international visitors, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The winning of the five new bids will bring a potential further 12,000 high-spending visitors to Hong Kong and bring to more than 120 the number of conventions and corporate meetings already booked to Hong Kong in the next nine years. The total number of delegates involved is expected to exceed 115,000.

-- source: Xinhua News Agency

return to travel news index