Visit of the Governor of the Finnish Province of Lapland, Accompanied by Santa Claus

Mrs. Hannele POKKA, the Governor of Lapland, will visit Hong Kong from 15 to 18 December 2000. She will be accompanied by the only original Santa Claus.

The visit is part of the celebration of EuroChristmas, the European Christmas Fair to be held outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai from 15 December 2000 to 2 January 2001.

Lapland, the northernmost province of Finland, covers a land mass one hundred times bigger than Hong Kong SAR (100 000 square kilometres) but has only about 200 000 inhabitants.

The best known inhabitant of Lapland is Santa Claus. He lives in a far-away mountain called Korvatunturi, but his workshop can be visited at the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. Santa’s website addresses are www.santapark.fi or www.santaclausplaza.com.

Governor Pokka will participate in the events of the Nordic day at EuroChristmas on Sunday 17 December. Together with Santa she will visit a children’s hospital and an orphanage, to bring the children greetings from Lapland and to wish them Merry Christmas.

Governor Pokka, former Minister of Justice of Finland, will call on the Secretary for Justice, Ms. Elsie Leung. She will discuss enhancement of tourism with the Hong Kong Commissioner for Tourism, Mrs. Rebecca Lai.

For more information, call Ms. Pirjo Leino, Consul, at +852 2289 0602.