Officiated by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho, a ceremony in celebration of the International Customs Day (ICD) 2023 was held by Hong Kong Customs at the Customs Headquarters Building today (February 2).
This year, the World Customs Organization (WCO) devotes the ICD to the theme of "Nurturing the Next Generation: Promoting a Culture of Knowledge-sharing and Professional Pride in Customs", highlighting the important role of Customs Administrations in nurturing future pillars of the society and facilitating knowledge-sharing.
At the celebration ceremony, Mr Chan commended Hong Kong Customs for its dedication and professionalism in steadfastly combatting illegal activities, safeguarding national security, and facilitating the trade and economic development of Hong Kong. It also played an important role in fostering normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as the rest of the world. Furthermore, the diversified educational activities arranged by it all along had enabled the youth of Hong Kong to grow and develop.
In her remarks, Ms Ho elaborated on Hong Kong Customs' work to nurture young Customs officers based on the two key elements of the ICD's theme, namely "knowledge management" and "professional pride in Customs", with a view to giving full play to the younger generation's digital literacy and responding to their aspiration for recognition. The array of work concerned included strengthening the application of the latest technologies to promote knowledge exchange within the department, engaging young officers in decision-making to strengthen their sense of ownership and belonging, and expanding overseas and local secondment opportunities to cultivate their pride and vision.
Hong Kong Customs became a member of the WCO in 1987 and the ICD has become an annual event of Hong Kong Customs ever since. At the celebration ceremony, Mr Chan presented the WCO Certificates of Merit to Hong Kong Customs' officers and its business partners in recognition of their remarkable contributions to youth development and knowledge-sharing.
About 200 guests, including officials of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, representatives of various offices of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong and Customs administrations of the Mainland and Macao, Consuls-General, foreign Customs attachés, as well as private stakeholders, attended the ceremony.