Joint statement on MOU between HK and Singapore

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Following is a joint statement on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Co-operation between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Government of the Republic of Singapore:

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cultural Co-operation between Singapore and Hong Kong was signed by Dr Lee Boon Yang, Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts and Dr Patrick Ho, Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs on April 1, 2004, in Hong Kong.

The MOU is another milestone in the warm relationship between Singapore and Hong Kong. It provides a formal framework to further strengthen the current state of active cultural exchange, and promote co-operation in the fields of culture and the arts. Such co-operation will lead to mutual awareness, respect, understanding, harmony and friendship between the people of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Both governments have started to explore the activities to be carried out. A list of the possible co-operation initiatives in the fields of heritage and museums, the arts and library is at the Appendix.

Appendix

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CULTURAL CO-OPERATION INITIATIVES

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Heritage and Museums

1. The Singapore Art Museum and Hong Kong Museum of Art shall extend invitations to visual artists from Singapore and HKSAR to participate in relevant activities, collaborate on exhibition development and mutual loan of collections.

2. The National Archives of Singapore and the Hong Kong Film Archives shall jointly curate an exhibition on the cinema history and heritage of both Singapore and HKSAR. The exhibition could draw on the archival collections in both institutions, and the film industry/private collectors of Singapore and HKSAR.

3. There shall be history projects, staff exchange and training programmes between the National Archives and History Museums of Singapore and the Hong Kong Museum of History, and/or universities in HKSAR.

Arts

4. The Singapore Arts Festival and arts presenters in Hong Kong shall seek to develop joint commissions and productions, and to promote and facilitate the international touring of such joint productions to other festivals and events.

5. Performing arts festivals and arts presenters in Singapore and Hong Kong shall extend invitations to artists and relevant practitioners from Singapore and HKSAR to participate in the respective arts festivals and arts events.

6. There shall be staff and technical personnel exchanges among performing arts organisations and institutions of Singapore and Hong Kong for the purpose of research, information sharing, education and training.

7. There shall be exchanges of writers and visual artists between Singapore and Hong Kong to participate in relevant literary and visual arts activities.

Library

8. There shall be an exchange of library materials on social, cultural, economic, business and finance aspects of Singapore and HKSAR between the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore and the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of HKSAR, to foster greater mutual understanding among the people of HKSAR and Singapore.

9. Between the NLB of Singapore and the HKPL of the HKSAR, there shall be mutual access to each other's collections, information portal and databases. This can be done through an exchange of the digitised contents, catalogues and library technology followed by an establishment of mutually beneficial library services that include document delivery, inter-library loan, and information search and packaging.

10. There shall be collaboration in library education programmes between the NLB of Singapore and the HKPL of HKSAR. Regular study visits can be organised for staff from the respective sides to visit each other's libraries. The visits will promote a better understanding of each other's library systems and encourage exploration of other possible areas of co-operation.

11. The NLB of Singapore and the HKPL of HKSAR shall keep each other informed of forthcoming events, such as library conferences and exhibitions, which may be of interest and relevance to each other. Both parties shall, at their discretion, organise exhibitions of library materials belonging to each other.

Ends/Thursday, April 1, 2004

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