In my capacity as president of both the International Council on Archives and the East Asian Branch of ICA, it is my privilege to express welcome to all participants at this workshop on Archives Descriptive Standards. This regional branch full of vitality is a manifestation of your continued commitment to EASTICA's ideals. As Chairman of EASTICA, I feel proud and happy. In this short period of four years since its establishment in July 1993 in Beijing, EASTICA has convened two General Conferences, one interim meeting, three executive Board meetings and three seminars. Its membership has grown from 9 in the beginning to 16 at present EASTICA has become one of the most creative and successful ICA Regional Branches in the world. We could not achieve this without your concerted efforts and cooperation.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to express our sincere thanks to Mr. Simon Chu, archivist of the Public Records Office of Hong Kong and his colleagues for their enormous efforts and very delicate arrangement. Our sincere thanks also go to the Centre of Asian Studies of the University of Hong Kong and to the Museum of History of Hong Kong.

It is well known that the 13^th International Congress on Archives held last September in Beijing was attended by 2,600 participants from 130 countries. It was one of the unprecedented grand occasions both scholarly and in scale in the history of the International Council on Archives since it was founded in 1950. A great number of archivists from East Asia attended the congress, which was an opportunity to promote the international standing of archivists in East Asia. This was an occasion worthy to be celebrated.

Archives are authentic recordings of human civilization. It is our sacred duty as archivists to preserve and make accessible these precious cultural heritage. Today we choose archives descriptive standard as the topic of the workshop. It is important because it is the foundation of archival work in a larger sense. Electronic technology develops with each passing day. Archivists are facing reader challenges from both the readers and the society, since traditional mode of archival service and management can not keep abreast of the times. We must adapt ourselves to the challenge and quicken our steps toward archival modernization. The development and implementation of archival descriptive standards is one of our efforts to this end, and will definitely facilitate standardization and automation of archives management.

Today, we have the honor to have invited Mr. Hugo Stibbe of the National Archives of Canada, and Mrs. Guo Siping of the State Archives Bureau of China to give us lectures on archives descriptive standards at the workshop. These two resource persons are experts of archival descriptive standards and have many years of practical and theoretical experiences. I am sure all of us will benefit from their dedicated and meticulous preparation of the lectures. During this workshop we will also have the opportunity for country reports and discussions on archival descriptive standards. All these efforts will surely promote the progress of archival work in East Asia.

Lastly, may I conclude by wishing you all a very successful workshop and a pleasant stay in this beautiful city of Hong Kong.

Thank you.