Speeches and Articles by Former Consul General James R. Keith

Remarks by U.S. Consul General James R. Keith at the ImaginAsian Press Conference

Multipurpose Room, U.S. Consulate General – Hong Kong
February 3, 2005

CONSUL GENERAL KEITH: I certainly do want to welcome the panel here and say thank you in particular to Sophia Chong of the Trade Development Council. This is an area that we are working very closely with the Trade Development Council and with the Hong Kong Government.

We are very pleased to see emerging cooperation between our two entertainment industries, which is actually a natural progression of the kind of cooperative commercial relations we have had here in Hong Kong. Clearly an important basis for this kind of progression and cooperation is the rule of law in Hong Kong and that part of it which applies most directly to the creative of industries that we are going to be talking about this afternoon, or this morning, is intellectual property rights protection. Clearly an important part of ensuring that artists continue to create and continue to provide creative content is protecting that content and their economic interest in it.

It is something we have been working on very closely with the Hong Kong Government, and we are very proud of our relationship with the Customs Department in particular here. But, our Department of Homeland Security works across the board with the Hong Kong Government to promote the best possible practices in intellectual property rights protection.

Just like the United States, there are more things that Hong Kong can do. This is an area where we all have to be creative, I suppose, in the sense that we are up against some very creative opponents. Those people who would conduct piracy are at the cutting edge and using technology and being very clever, and we have to do the same. But we really do look forward to increasing our cooperation in the entertainment industry across the board with Hong Kong and letting this be something of a model for our cooperation in the region. In particular, we see opportunities for distribution and perhaps co-production of American films.

So, this is an area that we are very excited about. We would like to see more done on it. I think you will be hearing more from us in the months ahead, both in terms of what we have to say representing the American industry, but also I know here in Hong Kong, TDC will be hosting, in March, Entertainment Expo. This is a good run-up to that, so I hope you have lots of questions for our panel. We very much welcome all of you today. Thank you for coming on a something of a raw, cold and dreary day. We hope to spice it up a little bit for you. Thank you all very much.