FOR PARTICIPANTS ONLY 10 November 2017 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC and HEFEI MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, ANHUI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT, CHINA The Asia-Pacific Forum on Science and Technology Parks 27-29 November 2017 Hefei City, Anhui Province, China INFORMATION NOTE FOR PARTICIPANTS A. BACKGROND OF THE MEETING 1) Development of science, technology and innovation is critical to future economic growth. Initiatives such as science and technology parks which provide enabling infrastructure and bring together key stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, researchers and investors often bring positive impacts on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions. 2) However, effective development and management of these parks is not always easy. In addition, many of the enterprises and innovations developed in science and technology parks often struggle to enter regional and international markets. While there has been an explosion of science and technology parks in the region, they are disparate and unconnected. There is an opportunity to build a stronger network of science and technology parks in the region to support the co-creation of innovation, and create opportunities for enterprises and innovators to enter new markets. 3) The objectives of this Forum are to provide a platform to share effective practices in the start-up and development of science and technology parks, and to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between parks in the Asia-Pacific region 1
B. VENUE AND DATES 4) The Forum will be held at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Building A, 598 Huangshan Road, Hefei city, Anhui Province, China, from 27 to 29 November 2017. 5) The opening of the session will commence at 0830 hours on Tuesday, 28 November 2017, in Fenghua Hall (3rd Floor) at Hefei Crowne Plaza Hotel. All subsequent sessions will also be held from 0900 hours to 1200 hours and 1300 hours to 1700 hours. Please refer to the Programme for the full schedule. C. REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS 6) Participants are requested to register at the registration desk from 1330 to 1700 hours on Monday, 27 November 2017on the ground floor of Hefei Crowne Plaza Hotel to ensure that their names appear on the list of participants. Without registration, names of participants will not be included in the list. 7) For these participants cannot register on 27 November 2017 (e.g., due to late arrival), they are requested to register at the registration desk from 0800 to 0830 hours on Tuesday, 28 November 2017 in front of the Fenghua Hall (3rd Floor) at Hefei Crowne Plaza Hotel D. LANGUAGE 8) The meeting will be conducted in English and all documentation will be issued only in English. Simultaneous interpretation between English and Chinese will be provided. E. MEETING DOCUMENTS 9) The meeting aims to be paperless. Any presentations or materials will be shared with participants in electronic form. NO copy of such documents will be available during the sessions. 10) Documents for circulation or distribution at the session should be sent to the secretariat before Wednesday, 22 November 2017. In accordance with the United Nations regulations for the control and limitation of documentation, the secretariat cannot undertake to process or reproduce documents or statements submitted by the individual delegations unless the secretariat specifically takes a decision to that effect and accept the financial implications thereof. F. VISA REQUIREMENTS 11) Participants need to check whether they need to apply visa to China from the Embassy or Consulate of China located in their respective countries before departing for Hefei and, if necessary, to obtain an appropriate visa prior to their departure. 12) All the necessary visas, including transit visas, if any, should be obtained before departure from your home country. Please note that you may need a multiple transit visa as your visa could be forfeited by a stop-over. The costs of obtaining visas are to be borne by each participant (please see Section G on Daily Subsistence Allowance). 2
13) Visa support letters will be issued by the Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Hefei Municipality. For inquiries or support, please contact the meeting focal points (In Section Q, or the last page of this document). G. TRAVEL ARRANGEMENT 14) For self-funded participants: Please make your own travel arrangements. Accordingly, the remaining paragraphs in Sections G and H are not applicable to the self-funded participants. 15) For participants funded by the ESCAP: After receipt of your duly signed nomination form and a copy of passport, ESCAP will send a provisional itinerary, i.e. an economy class round trip air ticket by the most economical and direct route from your home city to Hefei. The participants are authorized to arrive in Hefei on 27 November and depart on 30 December 2017, depending on the availability of flights. 16) The UN will arrange your flight ticket through American Express Travel Agency. Most likely one or two weeks prior to the meeting, the meeting focal point will contact you by email with a provisional itinerary which is determined by UN official travel rules and regulations. You will need to review the itinerary and confirm by reply email by cob Wednesday, 15 November 2017; in order for a ticket to be issued. 17) If you would like to make changes to the itinerary, any such changes ( personal deviation ) could lead to increased costs or additional fees, the difference of which will have to be borne by the traveler. Any personal deviation should be done by the participant after the ticket issued. 18) Participants should not purchase their own tickets unless prior written approval on lump-sum travel grant has been obtained from ESCAP, otherwise the organizers will not refund such ticket costs. 19) For the lump sum travel grant: The participant is required to book his/her own ticket and do the reimbursement of airfare with ESCAP. The reimbursement will be the actual cost of the most economical route from the city of departure to Meeting venue, but not more than the "ESCAP approved lump sum". 20) In order to distribute the payment of lump sum travel grant, the original receipt of airfare and copy of actual itinerary used for the trip (as itineraries are subject to change by airlines) are required to submit to the secretariat staff (Ms. Phadnalin Ngernlim) at the registration desk between 1330 to 1700 hours on Monday, 27 November 2017. 21) If the participant would prefer to travel business class, we would be able to provide you with a lump sum amount similar to the cost of an economy flight and for the participant to make up the difference. 3
H. DAILY SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE AND TERMINAL EXPENSE 22) For participants funded by the ESCAP: Participant will be provided with a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) for the duration of the Meeting in Hefei at prevailing United Nations rates, to cover hotel, meals, and other incidentals. 23) In addition, terminal expenses will also be provided to cover transportation costs to and from airports and other travel related costs (e.g, visa fees, airport fees, left-luggage, etc.). 24) Sponsored participants are required to submit the ORIGINAL travel documents, including passport, boarding passes, and itineraries (actual itinerary used for the trip as itineraries are subject to change by airlines) at the registration desk between 1330 to 1700 hours on Monday, 27 November 2017 or from 0800 to 0930 hours on Tuesday, 28 November 2017. These documents are mandatory proof of travel, which are required for the UN to release any payment. 25) The DSA and terminal expenses will be distributed on Tuesday, 28 November 2017 after travel document are verified. 26) To note, as ESCAP staff can only carry limited amount of cash to China according to the Chinese laws and regulations, part of the payment to the participants may be through the SwissBankers Value card, a Master Debit card, which will be in active on Tuesday 28 November 2017 at 1500 hrs. This card enables you to withdraw cash from ATMs in most (if not all) countries in the region. However, for each cash withdrawal some amount of money (in most cases US$5) is charged by ATM from card balance. The delegate may, therefore, be advised to plan for one-time cash drawl, if needed. 27) Any financed participants who are unable to stay for the duration of the meeting are requested to inform the secretariat as soon as possible after arrival, so that the subsistence allowance can be adjusted accordingly. I. ACCOMMODATION 28) All the participants will stay in Hefei Crowne Plaza Hotel, Building A, 598 Huangshan Road, Hefei, 230088 China. The local organizer of the Forum, i.e., Hefei Municipal government, will coordinate your hotel reservation according to your arrival and departure dates. 29) A booking confirmation will be sent to you as soon as it is available. J. PAYMENT OF HOTEL ACCOUNTS 30) Participants will be expected to use their DSA to cover the cost of their accommodation whilst in Hefei by either cash or SwissBankers Value cards and terminal expense to cover the cost of airport transfer and miscellaneous expense. 31) Before checking out from the hotel, participants should settle directly with the hotel all accounts, including room charges and other expenses, such as for local and long-distance calls, internet use, business center use, laundry and other hotel transportation services, minibar items, as well as restaurant and bar services. 4
32) Participants are also responsible for any charges incurred with respect to rooms remaining vacant owing to late arrival or rescheduled departure for which inadequate prior notice is given. K. TRANSPORT FROM AND TO AIRPORT 33) In most cases, free airport pickup will be arranged by the Chinese local host, i.e., Hefei Municipal government. Kindly note that such assistance should be treated as complimentary rather than mandatory. 34) In case that no free airport pickup is arranged (for example, if your itinerary changes while the local host is not aware of such change), participants need to get ready to make their own transportation arrangements from airport to the meeting hotel. Taxi rate should not exceed 100 Chinese Yuan (CNY), or about USD 15, from the airport to the meeting hotel (one way). Currency exchange and ATM/Cash machines are available at the Hefei International Airport. Kindly note: 1) Taxi in China only accept CNY (not any other currency); 2). Taxi drivers can speak Chinese only. In case that you have to take a taxi from airport, please print the hotel address below: 请送我去合肥皇冠假日酒店, 酒店地址是安徽省合肥市黄山路 598 号 A 座, 电话 : (86-551-)62971888 L. FINANCIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS (ONLY IF APPLICABLE) 35) The Secretariats will provide only travel and DSA as expressed and will not assume responsibility for any other expenditure, including the following: All expenses in the home country incidental to travel abroad, including expenditure for visa, medical examination, inoculations and other such miscellaneous items and internal travel to and from the airport of arrival and departure in the home country; Salary and related allowances for the participants during the period of the meeting; Costs incurred by participants in respect of travel insurance, accident insurance, medical bills or hospitalization fees in connection with attending the meeting; Compensation in the event of death or disability of participants in connection with attending the meeting; Any loss of or damage to personal property of participants while attending the meeting or losses or damages claimed by third parties as a result of any negligence on the part of the participants; Any other expenses of a personal nature, not directly related to the purpose of the meeting. M. INSURANCE 36) All participants are advised to arrange at your own expense insurance against sickness, accident, permanent or temporary disability, death and third-party risk for the 5
period of the meeting. The secretariat will not assume responsibility for any other expenditure, including the following: All expenses in the home country incidental to travel abroad, including expenditure for visa, medical examination, inoculations and other such miscellaneous items and internal travel to and from the airport of arrival and departure in the home country; Cost incurred by the participants in respect of travel insurance, accident insurance, medical bills or hospitalization fees in connection with attending the meeting; Compensation in the event of death or disability of participants in connection with attending the meeting; Any loss or damage to personal property of participants while attending the meeting or losses or damages claimed by third parties as a result of any negligence on the part of the participants. N. FOREIGN CURRENCY DECLARATION 37) Any person is permitted to carries up to 5,000 US dollars (or equivalent in any foreign currency) or 20,000 CNY. If you have more than this amount, related documents will be needed and you need to declare to the customs. 1 O. WEATHER 38) It is generally cold in late November in Hefei. You are advised to check weather forecast before your trip. P. ELECTRIC PLUG AND SOCKET 39) The most frequently used power socket in China is of type A. The standard voltage is 220 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz. The applied power sockets and corresponding plugs are shown below. 1 Source of information: http://english.customs.gov.cn/statics/88707c1e-aa4e-40ca-a968-bdbdbb565e4f.html, accessed on 8 November 2017. 6
40) Delegates are strongly encouraged to carry their own adapters for use with laptops and other electrical appliances as the Secretariat will not be able to provide these. In case of need, adapters can be purchased from electronic and electrical stores in Hefei. Q. MEETING FOCAL POINTS Focal points at ESCAP Tengfei Wang (Mr.) Economic Affairs Officer Technology and Innovation Section Trade, Investment and Innovation Division United Nations ESCAP UN Building, Rajadamnern Nok Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: +66 22 88 1658 Email: wangt@un.org Focal points in Hefei Chen Lei (Mr.) Deputy Division Chief Foreign Affairs Division Hefei Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office 8 th floor, 100, Dongliu Road, Hefei Civic Center, Hefei City, Anhui Province,230071 China Tel: +86-551-63538615 Email: c_lei@hefei.gov.cn Phadnalin Ngernlim (Ms.) Programme Assistant Technology and Innovation Section Trade, Investment and Innovation Division United Nations ESCAP UN Building, Rajadamnern Nok Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: +662-288-1581 Email: ngernlim.unescap@un.org <END OF DOCUMENT> 7