A special stamp sheetlet will be issued to commemorate Hong kong Post's participation in the Pacific Explorer 2005 World Stamp Expo, to be held in Sydney, Australia from April 21 to 24.

The stamp sheetlet is designed by Colin Tillyer and printed in lithography by the Banknote Corporation of America. This is the first stamp sheetlet bearing a new stamp specially designed to match the stamp sheetlet issued for Hong kong Post's participation in an overseas stamp exhibition.

Pacific Explorer 2005 is an international stamp exhibition held under the auspices of the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, with the theme of the Pacific.

Allan Chiang, Hong Kong's Postmaster general, said on Monday that Hong kong Post was keen to participate in such international exhibitions as it provided an opportunity to promote Hong Kong stamps to overseas philatelists as well as to encourage the culture of philately in general.

"Our participation in Pacific Explorer 2005 offers us not only a wonderful opportunity to showcase our new stamp products to the international community, and the Australian market in particular, but also to promote Hong Kong as a desirable place for tourism and business alike," he said.

Hong Kong and Sydney are both famous for their harbors and architecture, and Hongkong Post's stamp sheetlet illustrates the glorious Hong Kong skyline in verdant green with the renowned Sydney Opera House superimposed in the foreground. It also features the distinctive exhibition logo.

The similarities between the Sydney Opera House with its prominent curved roof section and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, which boasts one of the world's largest curved roof structures, are highlighted by the outline of a stamp on the sheetlet.

The First Day Cover depicts the distinctive roofline of the Sydney Opera House against a brilliant blue twilight sky, above a shot of the Hong Kong skyline at night with its dazzling neon lights reflected on the water of Victoria Harbor. Both images are aligned with the theme of the Expo, showing corresponding views of these key cities on different shores of the Pacific basin.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2005)