Closing Speech by Ms. Tracy Ao Hio Ieng

Speech Delivered at the Closing Ceremony of the 30th IBBY World Congress, Macao, China

Tracy Ao Hio Ieng, President of Executive Committee of General Association of Chinese Students of Macau

23rd September, 2006, Macao

Your Excellency, Secretary for Administration and Justice Ms Florinda Chan

Honorable President of IBBY, Mr Peter Schneck

Honorable President of CBBY, Mr Hai Fei, honorable guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good evening! I feel so honored to be given the opportunity to speak in front of you, and to extend a warm welcome to all of you on behalf of the Macao organizers. I sincerely thank for Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government for giving this farewell dinner banquet. Furthermore, I congratulate the congress on the great success it has achieved. Also I give congratulations to the newly elected president of IBBY, Ms Patricia Aldana.

IBBY is a non-profit organization which represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together. Their main missions are to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards, and to stimulate research and scholarly works in the field of children's literature. We feel honored that Macao had been chosen to host the congress, which is a great event for Macao. It has attracted a lot of attention from the community and has received very positive responses. It also helps to promote a reading culture among children in Macao.

The Macao organizers feel so honored to have the chance to host this event. We are convinced that the event will have a positive and long-lasting impact on the Macao people, our children and the community as a whole. We believe the congress will benefit us in three ways?First, it gives an opportunity for friends around the world to get to know Macao, helping to enhance Macao’s international profile. Second, it gives young people of Macao an opportunity to organize an international event, allowing us to learn and to bring our potential into full play. Third, it brings children’s literature of high quality from all over the world to Macao, promotes academic research in the field of children’s literature and encourages creation and reading of children’s literature in Macao.

Once again we thank the Macao SAR government?the Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macao SAR and Office of the Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner in Macao SAR for their great support towards this congress. I hope that when you go home, you will remember us and share your pleasant experience here with your friends. Finally, I wish all of you have a very pleasant and unforgettable evening. Thank you.