Twenty Government and private sector representatives are on the first leg of an overseas briefing tour designed to raise awareness of Bermuda as a premier international business centre.

Premier David Saul and Finance Minister Grant Gibbons, will lead the delegation, that includes CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange, Mr. William Woods.

Also part of the Bermuda Briefing 95-96 delegation are Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) chairman, Mr. Cummings Zuill, and representatives from the banking, insurance, legal, accounting and investment management sectors.

The BIBA-arranged promotional tour represents the first effort so diversely representative across business lines, and is funded jointly by the Finance Ministry and the private sector.

Mr. Zuill said: "The first visit on the tour is to Hong Kong. We will be hosting a cocktail reception on the evening of November 14, and then a half-day briefing November 15.

"We will then visit London on January 30 and Zurich on January 31. Bermuda Briefing 95-96 is designed to introduce our new Premier and Finance Minister to the international financial community and to update our target markets on recent regulatory and legislative developments and industry initiatives.'' Mr. Zuill said it was hoped that cooperative promotional activities sponsored jointly by the public and private sector can be organised as annual events.

A delegation of Bermuda Monetary Authority officials including chairman Mr.

Mansfield (Jim) Brock and general manager Mr. Malcolm Williams, tomorrow attend the opening of the new Singapore office of the Bank of Butterfield.

The delegation is on a two-and-a-half week tour of South East Asia, traveling through Singapore, Hong Kong and China, attending a number of functions promoting Bermuda as an international financial and business centre.

The BMA anticipates that the tour will "greatly enhance'' the reputations of the Authority and Bermuda, with regulatory bodies and businesses operating in the financial markets of South East Asia.

The aim is to establish direct contacts between local officials and their counterparts among certain local and regional regulatory bodies.

The delegation then joins the Bermuda Briefing in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the delegation will represent the Authority in its supervisory capacity by visiting the local banking operations of the Banks of Bermuda and Butterfield.

The BMA officials will also visit the Hong Kong offices of Bermuda law firms Conyers, Dill & Pearman, and, Appleby, Spurling & Kempe, with whom the Authority frequently liaises in connection with the incorporation of companies and other Hong Kong business.

Deputy general manager, Mrs. Marcia Woolridge-Allwood, will also join the delegation for the Hong Kong portion of the visit.