Speech by CS at Kick-off Ceremony of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong 2024 (English only) (with photos/video)
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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, at the Kick-off Ceremony of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong 2024 today (March 11):
尊敬的史志燕巡視員 (Second-grade Counsel of the Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan Affairs Office of the National Radio and Television Administration, Mr Shi Zhiyan), Peter (Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Dr Peter Lam), Leon (Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador, Leon Lai), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to join you, again, at Entertainment Expo Hong Kong. And this year, I am pleased to note, the Expo celebrates its 20th anniversary.
With two new additions, the Expo's 2024 edition expands to 10 events. They cover a wide range of entertainment - from film and TV, to music, digital entertainment, and more.
FILMART (Hong Kong International Film & TV Market), which opens today, is Asia's leading entertainment content marketplace for the creative industries. With some 750 exhibitors from around the world, this year's FILMART features more than 30 pavilions. And we are delighted to have first-time exhibitors from Indonesia, Macao and Hubei.
The Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum, as part of the HKIFF Industry Project Market, runs alongside FILMART's first three days. More than 1 100 meetings have also been lined up to connect over 1 000 Asian filmmakers and international film financiers, producers, distributors and buyers for potential co-production and business opportunities.
At the EntertainmentPulse conference, which runs concurrently with FILMART, distinguished international leaders will discuss a wide range of topical issues. Seminar highlights include a session featuring two generations of Hong Kong directors.
The Digital Entertainment Summit, let me just add, will be held this Wednesday. High-profile industry speakers from around the world will share their insights on animation productions, including the global perspective and cross-border collaboration.
The two new events of Entertainment Expo, the Asia Video Summit and the Microfilm Production Support Scheme (Music), will hold their summit and award presentation ceremony respectively this week. They target the TV sector, as well as cross-sector collaboration between music and the advertising sectors.
No less important, film-related events remain high on Entertainment Expo's agenda. Following the 17th Asian Film Awards presentation ceremony yesterday, the 29th ifva Festival will showcase independent short films, exhibitions and panel discussions from filmmakers and media artists later this week.
The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival will run from March 28 to April 8, featuring over 190 films from around the world; and the long-awaited 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony will take place on April 14.
Ladies and gentlemen, our current-term Government is all the more determined to strengthen Hong Kong's positioning as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange and as Asia's events capital. The entertainment industry is surely among our closest partners in achieving this goal.
In particular, this year's Entertainment Expo is among the highlights of our Art March series, presenting a variety of arts and cultural events for the people of Hong Kong and visitors from around the world.
And our efforts go well beyond that. We are restructuring Create Hong Kong into the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency to enhance support for the industries and everyone involved.
We will also inject about US$550 million into the Film Development Fund and CreateSmart Initiative to boost the development of our cultural and creative industries.
For organising this year's Entertainment Expo, my thanks to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, as well as the many other organisations involved in this remarkable, seven-week entertainment gala.
And my special thanks to Leon for being Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador once again.
I wish all the buyers and sellers here, from all over the world, the best of business at the Expo. And for the many thousands of visitors to this Expo and its 10 mega-events, I wish you all a rewarding experience. Thank you very much.
Monday, March 11, 2024