Transcript of remarks of press conference on "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign (with photos/video)
******************************************************************************************
Reporter: Two questions. The first thing is to follow up on the previous question. So how would you evaluate or measure the effectiveness of the whole campaign, the "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign, because you said you wanted to bring joy to the community and also boost the economy? And my second question is about the carnival by the harbour. So you said that will be a breakthrough. So, could you tell us a bit more about the details? And how many people do you expect will attend the carnival? Thank you.
Financial Secretary: Thank you, perhaps let me invite Dane to answer the "Harbour Chill" first.
Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board: This is the first time that we will organise such a carnival. First of all, for the Hong Kong Tourism Board to stage an event, this is a new format for us. Secondly, the venue is new. This venue, as far as I understand, has never been used to organise mega events. I think in terms of the scale it's pretty big for an event. We are also trying sort of different formats, as I said, there will be roving performances on culture, on music, and the performances by various artists or artist groups will be ongoing from 6pm to 11pm every weekend on Saturdays and Sundays. That's number one.
Secondly, it is also the first time for us to try out a floating stage that's actually on the water with the pyros as a backdrop; and of course, with our famous Victoria Harbour night view. So I think that would be something quite tremendous, and we would like to have the organisers to make Hong Kong residents happy, as well as together, enjoyable for our visitors.
Financial Secretary: Yes, as to the measurement of the success of this campaign, I think it is somehow difficult to establish very well-defined, numeric criteria. Because at the end of the day, whether people are happy or not, it is indeed a very personal experience.
But we would like to organise as many different kinds of activities as possible, so that we can offer a wide variety of options for people to choose from and to suit the interests of the different sectors of the community. Just like the different gourmet events and the district food festivals. I think given the current economic condition which still needs to be reinforced, if we are able to sustain the economic growth and employment, as well as giving people the confidence and the sense of happiness in the city, that would be most important. Thank you.
Reporter: My first question is why the Government still launched "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign which costs like millions of dollars, despite some economic challenges, like you mentioned lower export, and how will the "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign benefit the city in terms of the economic perspective? And also some said there is a manpower shortage to support the "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign, so how did and how will the Government tackle the shortage in terms of manpower issue? Thank you.
Financial Secretary: As I mentioned earlier, the drivers for our economic growth are basically export, capital investment and private consumption. For export, we faced difficulties particularly in the first two months of this year. The decline was quite substantial. For investment, the sentiment is getting better and better, but it will take time. In the meantime, if we want to mitigate the downward economic pressure, and to sustain our economic recovery, the best option is to stimulate private consumption. Although after re-opening the boundary, we have seen visitors coming; and after removing all the social distancing restrictions, the domestic sentiment is getting better, and people do come out to spend. But we still need to reinforce the spending part and to instill additional impetus. That's why we launched the Consumption Voucher Scheme earlier.
For "Happy Hong Kong", in addition to stimulating private consumption sustaining economic recovery, we also want to take this opportunity to inject some more happy and positive spirit into our community. After all, we have gone through three and a half very difficult years, we really want to see many more smiling faces. When people can come out with their friends or families to join different activities, particularly those activities that are free of charge, I think that would bring back more positive sentiment and happy experience for the people of Hong Kong.
As for manpower shortage, for these events, for example for the district-based events, we mobilise people in the districts to help out, so in terms of the manpower shortage for these kinds of events, it should not be substantial. Thank you.
Reporter: how will the "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign benefit the city in terms of the economic perspective?
Financial Secretary: Hong Kong certainly will benefit, as I mentioned, if we can increase consumption. That would in turn provide support to our economic growth. In Hong Kong, 98 per cent of our businesses are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and they employ about 45 per cent of our workforce. Many of those jobs are comparatively junior. So if we are able to sustain the economic recovery, help SMEs to gain business, and enhance their business receipts. This will help improve employment, and hopefully that would also improve the income of their employees. Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, April 24, 2023
Issued at HKT 21:06
Issued at HKT 21:06
NNNN
