DEP attends international symposium under Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing (with photos)
​The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, today (September 7) attended the International Symposium on Environmental Microbes of Health Concern held under the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative in Beijing and visited the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
The international symposium, held by the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on September 7 and 8, aims to further promote the research on risks and control of pathogenic microbes in water, and the building of a corresponding international network among the B&R countries/regions. Representatives from 16 B&R countries attended the symposium, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
At the symposium, Dr Chui promoted Hong Kong's sewage surveillance programme in successfully combating the COVID-19 pandemic. EPD staff who joined the delegation also shared experience on the work of bacteriological water quality monitoring of bathing beaches in Hong Kong, and provided demonstration and training on the collection, pre-treatment and analysis of water samples.
Dr Chui said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been participating proactively in the green co-operation with the B&R regions to combat climate change and environmental challenges together. This international symposium will spur the construction of an international network for bacteriological monitoring.
Dr Chui also visited the Ministry of Ecology and Environment today.
