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A Steering Committee on Culture and Creativity has been set up to co-ordinate and promote matters relating to culture and creative industries among relevant bureaus, departments and agencies.
The steering committee, co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs (PSHA) and the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) (PSCT), comprises representatives from the Education Bureau, the Home Affairs Department, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and CreateHK. Members from other departments and agencies will be co-opted as and when necessary.
Speaking at today's (September 10) press conference, the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Carrie Yau said, "The Government attaches great importance to the development and promotion of Hong Kong's culture and creative industries. Relevant bureaus, departments and agencies have been working closely to this end. The steering committee will serve as a platform for pursuing our policy objectives in a holistic and sustainable manner."
"We are determined to make our quality programmes more visible and accessible locally, regionally and internationally," Mrs Yau said. "To strengthen our cultural software, we nurture greater awareness and appreciation of culture and the arts among different age groups in particular the young people who are our future talents and the next generation of audiences. We have been working with our partners in the arts sector to specially launch 'Creative October' this autumn, which offers more than 200 programmes, including concerts, theatre, dance, exhibitions, films and thematic festivals, to showcase Hong Kong's profile as the cultural and creative hub of Asia, " she said.
Deputy Secretary for Education, Dr Catherine Chan said, "Promoting culture, creativity and arts education, as part of whole-person development, is another major strategy of the Government to enhance the cultural software.
"To tie in with the new senior secondary curriculum introduced in 2009 and basic education curriculum reform introduced since 2002, the Government is taking forward various initiatives in partnership with the local arts community and other community organisations to advocate the learning of the arts and culture in youngsters through appreciating, creating and performing the arts, as well as encouraging creative thinking across various primary and secondary curricula," Dr Chan said .
Acting Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) Mr Alan Siu, said, "With the establishment of CreateHK with effect from June, the dedicated office has already become the one-stop shop for the creative industries. It has been in close contact with various sectors under the creative industries umbrella to explore different initiatives which specially cater to their needs."
Mr Siu said the $300 million CreateSmart Initiative (CSI) would give funding support to various initiatives from the creative industry sectors to help promote their interests. For example, funding support would be provided for Hong Kong Productivity Council to organise the Hong Kong DigiCon6 Awards 2009 for participating in the 11th Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) DigiCon6 Awards 2009 to be held in Japan in November.
To promote the development of the digital entertainment and games industries, the CSI would also provide funding support to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to lead the local industries for participating in MIPCOM 2009, a leading international content market, to be held in France next month (October); and to the Hong Kong Game Industry Association for organising a year-long "Industry Promotion and Talent Recruitment Campaign" for Hong Kong Online Game Industry.
Mr Siu said a design competition for an official logo to reflect the mission of CreateHK would be launched soon to encourage the use of local design and to set a good example for the private sector to follow.
"We are supporting the production of a teaching kit to incorporate elements of film and animation in the new secondary school curriculum of visual arts to cultivate studentsˇ¦ appreciation of and interest in creativity. We are also planning to incorporate other creative industries elements such as design and architecture in the secondary school curriculum," he said.
Mrs Yau also noted that Hong Kong would host the Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum (ACCF) 2009 from October 8-10 when senior cultural policymakers from the Mainland and Asian economies, international and local arts and cultural bodies, scholars and creative entrepreneurs would gather to exchange views for fostering closer co-operation in promoting arts and culture and creative industries.
The theme of this year's ACCF is "The Cultural Asian". The first day of the forum will be dedicated to the Ministers' meeting, followed by two days' open sessions under the themes of "International Exchange and Promotion - A Performing Arts Perspective", "Blending In with Arts" and "The Animated Asia: Future Development of the International Position of Asian Animation". The general public and the cultural sector are welcome to participate in the event.
For more details of Creative October and ACCF 2009, please visit (www.CreativeOctoberHK.com) and (www.accfhk.org). For more details about the work of CreateHK, please visit (www.createhk.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:49
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