Welcome Speech by Ms. Victoria Lei Lai Cheng

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

Victoria Lei Lai Cheng, Deputy Director of the Executive Board of the Macau New Chinese Youth Association

21st September 2006, Macao

Your Excellency, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wa, Chief Executive of the Macao SAR

Honorable President of IBBY, Mr Peter Schneck,

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

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear boys and girls:

Good morning! 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. Your physical presence here has surely brought freshness and grace to our city, for you are the type of people that are forever young and promising.

I hope during your stay in Macao you will experience the unique culture of the city, which joined the World Heritage List in 2005. You may also be delighted to see what Macao has achieved in economic and social development since the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region in 1999. And the presence of our Chief Executive, senior government officials and aspiring members from the community at this ceremony indicate that great importance has been attached to fostering and nurturing the young generation. We have every reason to believe that Macao has a promising future.

Here I especially would like to tell you that not too long ago, when you could not even find Macao on the world atlas, how the work of people like you had enriched my childhood and made my dreams more beautiful. Now I have reached the stage of life when I start reading children’s book again. I know you will continue to inspire me, my friends young and old, our children, and our children’s children.

Finally, I wish the congress a brilliant success and I wish you all a happy and memorable stay in Macao. Thank you.