Invest Hong Kong, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, is the host sponsor of this highly prestigious international event, the department said in a news release Sunday.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa will give an opening keynote presentation, and participate in "A Meeting of Minds" session together with the President, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Steve Forbes and the Chairman of Forbes Caspar Weinberger.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang will host a reception at Government House for Conference delegates and guests. Financial Secretary Antony Leung will speak on "Reassessing the global financial outlook."

Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong Mike Rowse welcomed the Conference participants, saying that his department is delighted to host such a prestigious event in Hong Kong, bringing together so many experienced leaders, academics and business executives.

"This confirms Hong Kong's place not only as a world-class business hub but also as a center for creative discussion, where new ideas are developed and economic issues crucial to our future are analyzed," he added.

Rowse said from an investment promotion perspective, the Forbes Conference helps to put Hong Kong in the international spotlight and remind the participants that this is the place to be if they consider establishing operations in Asia.

"It is a good opportunity to introduce Hong Kong's advantages as a business location to some of the most important figures in the international business world," Rowse said.

Top executives will discuss issues related to the theme "Reassessing the business blueprint." They will reassess old ways of thinking and chart innovative paths to success in this challenging environment.

The conference will turn the spotlight on a range of crucial issues such as "Global perspectives: A world united or a world divided?", avoiding Asia's Enrons, the new China entrepreneur, the practical impact of China's WTO accession, and challenges and opportunities associated with new technology.

One of the world's leading authorities on threats to global security and nuclear armament, Richard Butler, will deliver a keynote speech. Butler is the former Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission to Disarm Iraq (UNSCOM), and currently the Australian Ambassador to the UN and Chairman of the 50th Anniversary of the UN.

Other prominent speakers at the conference include Nobel Prize Winner in Economics and former Chief Economist of the World Bank Prof Joseph Stiglitz and the former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Arthur Levitt.

The conference will begin with the launch of the Forbes Global balloon over Victoria Harbor.

( September 23, 2002)