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John Lee announced in his policy address that the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau will promulgate and implement the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development before the end of this year, while injecting a total of HK$4.3 billion to the Film Development Fund and the CreateSmart Initiative to provide incentives for attracting private sector capital and expanding new markets.
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The government will also establish the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency - restructured from the Create Hong Kong initiative - to proactively promote the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries under the industry-oriented principle.
The SAR’s Economic and Trade Offices in the Mainland and overseas will also strengthen promotion work on arts and culture, deepening cultural exchanges and promoting people-to-people bonds, said Lee.
In developing the film market, Lee said the government will launch the Filming Financing Scheme for Mainland Market to support Hong Kong and Mainland cultural enterprises to invest in the productions of Hong Kong directors for release in the Mainland market.
The government will also launch the Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme to sponsor film projects co-produced by Hong Kong filmmakers and their Asian and European counterparts in order to enhance international exchanges and nurture talent.
Meanwhile, Lee said a Signature Performing Arts Programme Scheme will be launched, offering a subsidy capped at HK$10 million and an additional HK$5 million matching fund to match private sector funding to support representative and large-scale local signature performing arts productions being staged as long-run performances.
The existing annual provisions for cultural exchanges will also be increased by 40 percent, from HK$50 million to HK$70 million, to support more local arts groups and artists to perform, or participate in exhibitions and other activities outside Hong Kong, Lee added.
