major members from new york and london foreign exchange committees to meet with the forum to facilitate the exchange of views on issues of mutual interest. in the past half year since its establishment, the treasury markets forum has made good progress in its work. we will continue to work closely with industry associations with a view to enhancing the competitiveness of hong kong ’ s treasury markets and promoting hong kong ’ s status as the preferred hub for treasury markets services. finally, may i represent the treasury markets forum to thank the chinese university of hong kong and the university of science and technology in developing the certificate programmes on dealing, settlement and fixed income securities. i would also like to congratulate aci - the financial markets association of hong kong in successfully introducing the new membership regime and expanding the membership. thank you.

norman chan : the new membership regime of aci - the financial markets association of hong kong remarks by mr norman chan, deputy chief executive of the hong kong monetary authority and chairman of treasury markets forum of hong kong, at the cocktail reception to mark the new membership regime of aci - the financial markets association of hong kong, hong kong, 14 october 2004. * * * good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, i am pleased to welcome you all to this reception to mark the successful launch of the new membership regime of aci - the financial markets association of hong kong, and the introduction of accredited educational programmes for market practitioners. this is a major milestone in raising the professionalism of treasury market practitioners in hong kong. the treasury markets forum of hong kong was established in march this year with a view to promoting co - operation and synergy to raise the professionalism of practitioners and the overall competitiveness of the treasury markets in hong kong. the forum brings together the providers, users and intermediaries in treasury markets, including representatives of hong kong association of banks, aci - the financial markets association of hong kong, hong kong capital markets association, hong kong association of corporate treasurers, dtc association and hong kong foreign exchange and deposit brokers ’ association, to consider how we can co - operate in raising the professionalism of market practitioners. i am pleased to report that we are made major progress in raising the professionalism of treasury market practitioners. treasury markets comprise a wide range of products including foreign exchange, fixed income, derivatives and so on. the boundaries between various markets have become blurred alongside more innovative and sophisticated structuring of new products. whether dealing, sales or back - office staff in treasury markets all require strong technical, up - to - date knowledge in order to cope with the rapid changes in treasury markets. in the discussions between the treasury markets forum and aci - the financial markets association of hong kong on the design of the new membership scheme, we consider that there is a need to bring together qualifying practitioners from various treasury markets. this can facilitate the exchange of views among practitioners within the industry on the one hand and promote the professional standing of practitioners on the other hand. in addition, accredited educational programmes should be introduced to raise the professionalism of practitioners and provide training to those who are interested to join the industry. following the active co - ordination among industry bodies, i am glad that the aci - the financial markets association of hong kong has successfully launched the new membership regime and made