SkyLeaders Scholarship Awards Nurture Future Leaders

(HONG KONG, 31 August 2006) - Thirty outstanding undergraduates today received SkyLeaders Scholarship Awards at a ceremony to mark the completion of their summer internship at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The awards are part of HKIA's SkyLeaders Development Programme, which identifies and nurtures future leaders from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.

Launched in 2005, SkyLeaders includes scholarships, internships, leadership mentoring and a management trainee programme. SkyLeaders also features on-campus communication sessions, where Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr David J Pang shares his views on leadership and airport management with students from participating universities.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Dr Pang congratulated the interns on their achievements and said he hoped that SkyLeaders would inspire participants with enthusiasm for their further studies and future career. "The true value of knowledge emerges when you put your thoughts into action," observed Dr Pang. "SkyLeaders gives talented undergraduates an opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained in school and to sharpen their problem-solving and leadership skills.

"Through programmes like SkyLeaders, we help young people become confident, capable adults. This creates a steady stream of talent for the Airport Authority and contributes to the success of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland," he added.

Fascinated by the diversity of the airport business, Sandy Kwan Yee-mei hopes to join HKIA as a management trainee when she graduates from City University of Hong Kong next year. The policy studies and administration student said, "I never realised that the airport plays such an important role in Hong Kong's social and economic development. It was also an eye-opener to learn how the new co-operation agreement between HKIA and Zhuhai Airport will contribute to regional economic development."

As an Airport Ambassador, intern Jerry Chen-zhuo enjoyed meeting passengers from different countries and cultures. The third-year psychology student at Zhejiang University said working at HKIA allowed him to enhance his communication skills and understand the difference between theory and practice.

Encouraged by enthusiastic response in 2005, SkyLeaders was expanded to include seven local universities and two mainland universities this year. Twenty-one local and nine mainland undergraduates received scholarships, and 20 of them became summer interns and spent up to two months in passenger terminal management, airfield operations, retail and advertising, human resources and information technology.

In addition, 15 management trainees selected from more than 2,000 applicants from Hong Kong and the mainland will join SkyLeaders in September for a two-year development programme.

Participating Universities:

Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Baptist University Lingnan University The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The University of Hong Kong

China Sun Yat-sen University Zhejiang University