Over 11,000 delegates, that may include world leaders and heads of states, as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations and the media, are expected to attend the MC 6 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre between December 13 and 18.

The first WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Singapore in 1996, and since then four more were held, one every two years, in Geneva in Switzerland, Seattle in US, Doha in Qatar and Cancun in Mexico. Ensuring MC 6 would take place without any hiccups is likely to be the largest commitment for the Force since the Handover ceremonies.

The planning structure comprises a Steering Committee chaired by Director of Operations Yam Tat-wing, a PHQ Planning and Co-ordination Team headed by Assistant Commissioner (Operations) and nine working groups.

Police Tactical Unit Commandant Bill Suen chairs the Working Group on Security, responsible for formulating security plans and co-ordinating the work of the other eight working groups, each headed by a Senior Superintendent. Mr Suen also oversees preparations on a day-to-day basis.

The other working groups deal with public order, command and control, logistics, manpower and procurement, tactics and training, public relations and publicity, traffic management, and information technology and communications.

In addition, the Force has seconded one Superintendent and one Chief Inspector to the Trade and Industry Department, the lead department for MC 6.

Mr Yam said the planning structure was formed, based on the feedback and experiences of officers who had conducted case studies of WTO ministerial conferences and other major international meetings.

To prepare operational plans for MC 6, two officers joined the SAR Government Delegation to MC 5 held in Mexico in 2003 to study the working of the event. On top of this, officers from Operations Wing have attended a number of other overseas conferences and meetings in the past few years.

Meanwhile, a series of presentations have been planned on the various issues surrounding MC 6 for Chief Inspectors and above. The first phase of this programme will be a two-hour presentation, which is scheduled to take place at PHQ Auditorium on February 17 and 18. The subjects of the presentation will be "Government and Force Preparations", "Trends in Protest and Newly Developed Tactics", "Public Order Policing Strategy" and "Manpower Commitments".

The Working Group on Security meeting in session

D (Ops) chairs the Steering Committee