Lee focusing on big events and Article 23

Ways to promote Hong Kong's "event economy" and the proper enactment of Basic Law Article 23 would be the two main themes of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's question and answer session tomorrow in the Legislative Council.

Lee said there are large-scale events turning up in Hong Kong successively, which will not only attract visitors from all over the world, but also increase the city's attractiveness and business opportunities.

"This will bring upon a massive economic benefit to the city and boost industries including tourism, hospitality, retail and food and beverage," Lee said.

He said the government attaches great importance to developing and promoting tourism, and the local tourism industry has continued to recover after the pandemic. The industry is now at 55 percent of prepandemic levels, he added.

"Figures are going up in retail and in tourism. That shows we're achieving results in boosting tourism," he said. "As we get more of our capacity back, we'll see further increases in inbound visitor numbers."

Lee said he would therefore like to discuss with lawmakers the ways to improve visitors' experience and impression of Hong Kong to create a "magnet effect" and lure more tourists to the city.

On the topic of Article 23, Lee said he would like to listen to lawmakers' opinions on how the government should deal with the relationship and compatibility between the enactment and the national security law.

According to sources, it is expected that the consultation work of the legislation will be announced before the Lunar New Year at the earliest.

Separately, another football superstar might be visiting Hong Kong in the coming three months, as sources said French national team captain Kylian Mbappe might be coming over to attend the Dior fashion show at the West Kowloon Cultural District in late March.

Chairman of the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Committee Adrian Cheng Chi-Kong recently posted photos with Dior's global ambassador Mbappe and the fashion house's artistic director Kim Jones on Instagram, with the captions "See you in Hong Kong" and "See you in March," respectively.

It is understood that Dior has inspected the venues of M+ museum and the Palace Museum in West Kowloon and found the former more suitable.

Sources said that although fashion shows are private enterprise activities, the government will also provide assistance, such as coordinating with the fire services department and police to build stages and communicating with the marine department and civil aviation department, as it did for the drone show during the Louis Vuitton fashion show last month.

As to whether Mbappe will visit Hong Kong, sources said it depends on whether his club Paris Saint-Germain would allow him to leave the team for a while.

The government will announce on Friday more big events to be held in the city this year, sources said.