More than 400 youngsters from Hong Kong and other places took part in an international conference Tuesday to share their experiences in the use of Internet.

The young people, coming from Australia, Holland, Britain, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, exchanged views on the recent trends in Internet development and the means of creating a healthy cyber world.

The conference is one of the events under the "Project on Opportunities and Challenges of the Cyber World for Youth Development", which is jointly organized by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Launched in September this year, the project aims to provide an opportunity for local and overseas youngsters to deliberate on the opportunities and challenges of the cyber world. Other events organized under the project include a website design competition and an exchange camp.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology), Francis Ho, pointed out that the Internet was a powerful communications platform that connected people from every corner of the world.

"The Internet and World Wide Web could be tools for us to develop, explore and share knowledge, and to pass the wealth of intelligent collaboration to the next generation. It can only be a success if contributors cherish it and act responsibly in building the common garden of knowledge," he said.

The morning session of the conference featured two plenary forums, "The Influence of the Cyber World on Youth Development" and "Fighting Cyber Crime -- an International Joint Effort." Four panel group discussions were held in the afternoon covering the proper use of the Internet; law and management; the influence of the Internet on individuals and society; and online education.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2004)