(10 July 2016, Hong Kong) A record number of 780 applications from 125 local secondary schools have been received for the Young Ambassadors for Geoconservation Training Programme, a comprehensive youth education programme co-organized by NWS Holdings Limited (“NWS Holdings” or “the Group”; Hong Kong stock code: 659) and the Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong. The new record reflects increasing school support for this programme, which has groomed around 1,000 senior secondary students and accumulated over 25,000 training hours since its inception in 2011.
About 500 graduating and incoming Young Ambassadors, as well as secondary school principals and teachers, attended the graduation and orientation ceremony held yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Starting from this month, the new cohort of 240 selected students will take part in varied training, including geoconservation classroom training, field trips to Hong Kong’s geopark, a leadership camp, a corporate visit to NWS Holdings’ businesses, and training activities themed around geotoursim. Outstanding students and their teacher advisors will be sponsored for an overseas exchange tour in 2017.
At the ceremony, Sheila Tang, General Manager of Corporate Communication of NWS Holdings, said, “Tourism as one of Hong Kong’s four pillar industries is important to the economic growth and competitiveness of our city. We have made geotourism the training theme this year to encourage students to think broadly about how we can grow tourism in a durable and sustainable manner. I trust this topic can ignite student’s creativity and enhance what they have learnt from this integrated and year-long programme.”
Cindy Choi, Vice-Chairman of the Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong, said, “Hong Kong has remarkable geological formations and rich cultural heritage that are unique in the world. These gifts of nature could be promoted and appreciated more broadly for incoming tourists while maintaining a balanced and sustainable growth of our conservation and tourism industry.”
Patrick Lai, Assistant Director (Country and Marine Parks) (Acting) of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, along with representatives from the co-organizers and supporting organizations, officiated at the ceremony. Awards were presented to outstanding teams and individual Young Ambassadors from last year’s intake. Buddhist Sin Tak College’s team won the Gold Award for their outstanding school projects and overall training performance. Twelve individuals received the “Young Geo-guide Award” as recognition for their work in leading guided public tours of the NWS Hong Kong Geo Wonders Hike in 2015.
On the same occasion, a new YA Alumni Club Committee was also inaugurated. The YA Alumni Club was formed in 2014 to strengthen links between present and former Young Ambassadors. All incoming and graduating Young Ambassadors are automatically enrolled as members and are entitled to join a variety of activities, including annual gatherings, whole-person development trainings, site visits, guided tours, overseas trips and internships
For more information about the Young Ambassadors for Geoconservation Training Programme, please visit http://geo.nws.com.hk or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/geo.nws.hk.
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NWS Holdings Limited (“NWS Holdings”, Hong Kong stock code: 659), the infrastructure and service flagship of New World Development Company Limited (Hong Kong stock code: 17), operates businesses in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Macau. Its Infrastructure portfolio includes Roads, Environment, Logistics and Aviation projects. Its Services portfolio comprises Facilities Management (the management of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Free Duty), Construction & Transport (construction, bus and ferry services) and Strategic Investments.
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NWS Holdings Limited
