On behalf of the ICASSP 2003 Organizing Committee I extend to you a heartfelt welcome to Hong Kong. East and West have come together here with aplomb. We are going to continue the ICASSP legacy and reputation for technical excellence. You will be pleased to know that the quality of papers submitted to ICASSP 2003 was outstanding. Selecting the most representative papers and defining topical areas were the challenge. The resulting program consists of many familiar topics plus a few that are intended to guide the Society into new and emerging areas, plus prepare a pathway to future ICASSPs. The Industrial Technology Track became even more significant in 2003 and the Student Forum has been continued successfully. The pattern of the submitted papers and the keynote presentations also reflect the theme of the conference, "Multimedia Signal Processing".

If it were a square, the size of Hong Kong is no more that 20x20 square miles. Despite its small area, Hong Kong is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia. In 2002, a total of 16.56 million people visited Hong Kong, a 20.7% increase since the year 2001. Hong Kong, better known as Pearl of the Orient, is famous for its spectacular harbour views. The unique fascination of Hong Kong is the seamless way in which age-old traditions thrive in an ultra modern city. It is a city of contrasts where the new meets the old at every turn. April is one of the best times to visit Hong Kong. It is very pleasant and there is plenty of sunshine. The average temperature is 23°C and the average humidity is 82%. There are seldom typhoons during April.

An excellent program has been assembled by the Technical Program Chairs, Special Session Chairs and the Workshop Chair. The program is put together as a result of hard work and dedication by many individuals. ICASSP has a reputation to uphold, and you will find that this year's committee added to this high mark to further the Signal Processing Society. We are very proud of the result from all of their effort. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Organizing Committee, keynote speakers, reviewers and all authors for contributing their original work and presenting at the Conference. Finally, I wish to recognize the superb and diligent work of Conference Management Services, the professional organizer for ICASSP'03.

Wan-Chi Siu
General Chair
ICASSP 2003