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Tremendous opportunities had opened up for Hong Kong in the past decade following its reunification with China in 1997, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, said today (August 3).
Speaking at a reception in Brisbane for the opening night of "Hong Kong Cinema" at the Brisbane International Film Festival, Mr Tsang said the difficult and painful period of the Asian financial crisis, avian flu and SARS had long gone, and Hong Kong's economy was now going from strength to strength.
In the past three years, economic growth had averaged more than 7.5%, unemployment was at a nine-year low of 4.2%, and exports of goods and services and retail sales were buoyant. Hong Kong's equity market had also reached new highs.
"Our ever closer ties with Mainland China have opened up tremendous new opportunities for Hong Kong, and we continue to be the two-way business platform between the Mainland and the rest of the world," Mr Tsang said.
The Financial Secretary said Hong Kong's flourishing cultural scene, with its unique fusion of creative talent from the East and the West, gave the city its heart and soul.
"This is reflected in our film industry, which has gained a global reputation with many Hong Kong actors, directors, cinematographers and producers becoming household names. They are winning acclaim for their unique style, incisive direction and sometimes off-beat story lines," Mr Tsang said.
He said Hong Kong was being promoted as a film centre with facilities, expertise and support for every movie occasion. This included the Government's injection of HK$300 million into the Film Development Fund this year to expand its scope to finance the production of small-to-medium budget films to help the long-term development of the film industry.
The "Hong Kong Cinema" reception and screening, hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Sydney, forms also part of the celebration programme for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The evening was attended by more than 200 guests, including Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure Anna Bligh, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism, Queensland Parliament Mr Michael Choi, Mayor of Ipswich Councillor Paul Pisasale, Chairman of the Brisbane City Council's City Businesses Committee Councillor Kevin Bianchi, Chair of the Pacific Film and Television Commission Sir Llewellyn Edwards, and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission Mr Robin James, and the Executive Director of the festival Ms Anne Demy-Geroe.
The "Hong Kong Cinema" offers two very different films - The Banquet and Eye in the Sky. The Banquet, a co-production of Hong Kong and China, is an epic tale of fate and revenge set in the 10th-century imperial court in China. Eye in the Sky, a Hong Kong production, is a stylish 21st Century crime thriller in which the Hong Kong police surveillance unit takes on a gang of jewel thieves.
Ends/Friday, August 3, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:29
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