It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be here today to say a few words at the opening ceremony of the workshop. On behalf of the Urban Council, I would like to convey our heartiest gratitude to the Public Records Office of Hong Kong for inviting us to be the co-organizer of the workshop sponsored by the East Asian Branch of the International Council on Archives (EASTICA). It is really our honour to have the workshop conducted in the Museum’s Lecture Hall which is only furnished with simple and modest equipment. Hope you won’t find disappointed.

To my knowledge, this is the first workshop of this nature and scale ever organized in Hong Kong, and as the host of this significant event, the Public Records Office of Hong Kong has made great efforts to ensure the smooth running of the workshop. Thanks to their hard work, we can all sit together in these few days to listen to the expert advice of the guest speakers on archives descriptive standards and share the views among ourselves. It is absolutely a valuable opportunity to draw each one of you, regardless of your heavy office commitments, to take part in the workshop.

Though the Hong Kong Museum of History has rapidly built up its own collection of historical archive in recent years, all of which are records and documents on commerce, education and industry, etc. covering different periods, we are only a new-born baby compared with the other well-established Archives. It is wonderful to have such a golden opportunity for us to learn from the professionals their experience on managing archives. I am sure that we can benefit a lot from this professional exchange. Finally, may I wish the workshop a great success. Thank you.