Speech by CS at opening ceremony of new Facebook office in Hong Kong (with photos/video)

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     Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at the opening ceremony of the new Facebook office in Hong Kong today (May 20):
 
     Let me say a few words in English. First of all, this expansion is more than a physical expansion. It is a vote of confidence in Hong Kong's future, for which we are most appreciative, point number one.
 
     You set a shining example for others as well, not only in investment but also in how you really look after your employees. This new office is employee-friendly, its excellent environment with panoramic view reserved for your employees, not for the bosses, right? That means you really take care of your staff. It provides a caring environment, showing how you look after your staff's welfare, not just productivity. You feed them well at no cost to them which is amazing. I hope the Government can follow suit and do the same thing. Also, you've been extremely compassionate. You provide mothers' room and a private little "電話粥" area, so they can have privacy, and the flexi work hours are attractive. All these really reflect the modern thinking of a caring and compassionate employer, while you encourage productivity, creativity and innovation. This is all Facebook is about – building community and bringing the world closer together.
 
     I also want to pay tribute particularly to Facebook not only for this investment here. You are building a cross-Pacific submarine cable, providing more fibre optic capacity between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles section will come on stream in the third quarter of this year and then the second bit will come next year. So by time the two cables are commissioned, it will enhance tremendously the total capacity of our external submarine cables and bring Facebook to a new height.
 
     Meanwhile, Hong Kong puts a lot of emphasis on innovation technology. It ranks very high on our policy agenda. In the last 23 months, we've invested $100 billion into innovation technology. We are doing our very best to put Hong Kong on the IT map, and in fact, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development will strengthen Hong Kong's IT development so that the Greater Bay Area will be Wall Street plus Silicon Valley in the future. This is also what Hong Kong's long-term future is all about. But after all, we rely much on Facebook in our daily life because you are such an important medium of communication, bridging the digital divide and also contributing to our society, assisting the underprivileged and strengthening people-to-people connection.
 
     On this note, I just want to say thank you very much indeed, Dan (Vice President of Asia Pacific at Facebook, Mr Dan Neary) and Jayne (Vice President and Head of Greater China at Facebook, Ms Jayne Leung) and your team, your winning team – your very young team averaging 24 years old – that's amazing. I wish you all the very best and brilliant future. When I visit you next time, you'll be expanding into the sixth floor. Thank you so much.

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