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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO, Berlin) is supporting a new partnership between Hong Kong and Germany for Business of Design Week (BODW) 2011 which will be held in Hong Kong at the end of 2011.
Witnessed by the Director of HKETO, Berlin, Mr Stephen Kai Wong, and State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Dr Bernd Pfaffenbach, on Thursday (August 19, Berlin time), Dr Edmund Lee of the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), Ms Lore Buscher of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Mr Andrej Kupetz of the German Design Council signed an agreement for Germany to be the partner country for BODW 2011.
BODW was first organised by HKDC in 2002. It is now the largest annual design event in Asia and one of the leading design events in the world. BODW is a week-long event with conferences, forums, award presentations, exhibitions, outreach programmes, gala dinners and other networking gatherings. Since 2005, BODW has annually attracted over 50,000 visitors - business executives, designers, manufacturers and students.
Since 2005, the HKDC has partnered with a country each year to organise BODW. This brings the best of the partner country to Hong Kong each year and provides a focus for sharing and networking. The four Nordic countries (2005), the UK (2006), Italy (2007), The Netherlands (2008) and France (2009) were partner countries for previous BODWs. The partner country for BODW 2010 is Japan.
In his speech at the signing ceremony, Mr Wong said that it was a pleasure to see Hong Kong partner with Germany in the design arena, as Germany has a long tradition of good design work going back to the days of the Bauhaus.
"For Hong Kong, the Government has, in recent years, implemented different measures to promote the design industry such as the provision of support to design-related professional bodies and encouraging their collaboration, assistance to build a design talent pool, and enhancing the understanding and application of design in various industries," he said.
In 2004, the Hong Kong Government launched the HK$250 million (£á25 million) DesignSmart Initiative to fund design-related activities and infrastructure. The HKDC was also granted funding of HK$100 million (£á10 million) in 2007 to support the Centre's operations to promote the wider use of design and innovation in industrial and business processes.
Mr Wong also briefed the guests on the recent efforts in Hong Kong and Central Europe by HKETO, Berlin, to promote Hong Kong's creative industries, of which the design industry is an important sector.
In his speech, Dr Pfaffenbach said it was an honour to be a partner country of BODW 2011. Given the widespread use of design in the German export industry, the country is an ideal partner for the event. He also thanked Mr Wong for working together with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology to take the project forward.
At the signing ceremony, the HKDC was represented by Executive Director, Dr Edmund Lee, and Project Director, Mr William To.
Ends/Friday, August 20, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:39
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