The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government has completed as of Nov. 18 a series of exercises designed to respond to incidents that may occur during next month's Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to the government's website on Saturday.

The series of exercises, the first of which started on Sept. 23, were planned by Hong Kong Security Bureau's Exercise Planning Team consisting of officers with wide-ranging experience in emergency and crisis management.

A total of 44 government departments and agencies took part in the fifth and biggest command-post exercise in the series, which was completed on Nov. 18. Some 25 departmental and agency emergency control centers were activated at multiple locations across Hong Kong during the exercise.

Various scenarios were simulated in the exercise to test the workability and effectiveness of key departmental response plans, the interface compatibility of existing departmental communication systems and the interface between a control Multi-Agency Coordination Center and existing departmental command and control systems.

"This is the biggest joint exercise that the government has ever conducted.

"It has provided a good opportunity for relevant departments and agencies to practise their response to incidents of varying degrees of seriousness and to identify areas for improvement," a government spokesman said.

Source: Xinhua