President Peter announced that the PP dinner would be held on 25^th June in the FCC at 6:30pm. The District Installation will be held on 5^th July 04 at the Miramar Hotel at 6:30pm.  Today is the last meeting for the Rotary Year 2003-2004, and is the last meeting chaired by President Peter.

PE Angela will work with committee chairmen to allocate each member into at least one committee, when the process is finished, she will email each individual member.  Because the economies of Asia countries had slowed Rotavest sold some stock to have some cash in the account, but it is now the right time to reinvest in some stock, if any member have suggestion, please email to PP Kishore for consideration.

PP Gaston brought his daughter Ms Dawn Chan to lunch and she requested that members that possess used mobile phones preferably with their chargers and in good condition (GSM network) donate them to her friend. They will go to Uganda for use by NGO’s for communication and may be re-sold to raise money.  Members can deliver the phone to Lillian’s office at Room 1403, 9 Queen’s Road Central.

Our speaker today is Ms Rita Liaw, she joined the Community Relations Department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) upon graduation.  At present Ms Liaw heads the ICAC Regional Office (Hong Kong East) and the Hong Kong Ethics Development Centre (EDC). EDC was formed under the auspices of the ICAC in 1995 to represent the collaborative efforts of the HKSAR Government and the business community (as represented by six major chambers of commerce in Hong Kong) in the promotion business ethics.

The topic today is “Corruption Prevention – Practical tips for Businessmen”.  Corruption is an abuse of trust and Hong Kong have enacted the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance to pursue both offerer and recipient. Civil servants are forbidden to accept gifts or money, but private organizations may if the gift is acceptable and defined clearly in the employment contract.  To make the policy of the company clear, ICAC have a code of conduct can be helpful to an organization, also staff training and system controls are important.

Ms Liaw has investigated three cases of cross border corruption. The trading between Hong Kong and China is growing, so clarity about the law of China is important. EDC will have a seminar on 14th September to help cross border businessmen understand Chinese  law.