HONGKONG owes its outstanding progress in recent years to its ''extremely adaptable reservoir of human resources'', said Professor Poon Chun-kwong, director of the Hongkong Polytechnic. The educationist was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 1993 Student Ambassador Programme, held recently at the Hongkong Arts Centre.
Each year the programme, introduced by the Hongkong Tourist Association (HKTA) in 1968, chooses 100 young people studying overseas to be ambassadors who will represent Hongkong. The students are expected to give an updated picture of the territory in their host countries.
More than half of this year's ambassadors are studying in the US, while the others are in Canada and the UK, with one in Germany.
The HKTA gives the students a month-long course on various aspects of life in Hongkong. Students are briefed by experts on topics ranging from government administration and economic development to social issues and the tourism industry.
Ms Suzanna Leung, manager of the HKTA public relations department, said the student ambassadors were selected through interviews on the basis of their character, academic and extra-curricular record and language skills.
Student ambassador Edwin Lee Kan-hing, a second-year marketing student at the University of Southern California, said the programme meant a lot to him.
''A friend recommended it highly, saying it would benefit me in many ways, and it has,'' Edwin said. ''I have made a lot of good friends who share my educational background.'' Instead of spending the holidays doing a summer job, Edwin decided to join the programme and learn more about Hongkong.