Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, at the opening ceremony of the Museum Summit 2023 today (March 24):
 
Deputy Administrator Gu Yucai (Deputy Administrator of the National Cultural Heritage Administration), Dr Schmidt (Director of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Dr Eike Schmidt), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Museum Summit 2023 - and to Hong Kong.
 
     This year's Summit, the third edition, is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government in partnership with the Uffizi Galleries in Italy. It's exciting to see that this Summit has achieved a record-breaking enrolment figure of about 2 000 participants, including prominent museum and heritage professionals, from all over the world.
 
     You're here, in Hong Kong, to network and understand the latest developments of the regional and global museum landscapes.

     You're here, too, to join, and learn the insights of, more than 30 renowned speakers and moderators from around the world. And I welcome first-time participants from Austria, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Thailand. 
 
     I'm also pleased to note that a delegation from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, covering members from various cities of Guangdong Province as well as Macao, is here in our city. So, too, is a delegation from some 10 Asian countries. 
 
     Your presence here affirms Hong Kong's position as the region's prime destination for professional exchange.
 
     The theme of this year's Summit, "Between", underlines the important role of museums to create connection between worlds, times, peoples and spaces. It also highlights Hong Kong's unique position as an international hub for cross-cultural dialogue.  
 
     Last July, the Hong Kong SAR Government of the current term established the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. Thanks to the strong support of our motherland under the National 14th Five-Year Plan, the Bureau is developing Hong Kong, at full steam, into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. 
 
     One of the Bureau's priority tasks is to map out a comprehensive blueprint for the development of arts and culture as well as creative industries in Hong Kong. A key aspect of this blueprint will be on upgrading the city's arts and cultural facilities, including museums for sure. This year's Summit will definitely give us much food for thought.
 
     Hong Kong's long-term partnerships with world-class museums - including the Palace Museum in Beijing and the British Museum, the two partners of our previous Museum Summits, and the Uffizi Galleries - are equally important. In particular, this year's Summit marks a milestone in our joint efforts to promote cultural exchange between our motherland and Italy, and enrich the centuries-long connection between the two ends of the Silk Road.
 
     After three years of the pandemic, Hong Kong is finally back onstage and back in business - the business of culture and creativity, of exchange and co-operation.   
 
     This year's Summit marks a fresh beginning for practitioners in the museum and heritage sectors in Hong Kong and around the world to establish, renew and deepen partnerships. 
 
     Taking this opportunity, I sincerely invite you to visit Art Basel and Art Central, two of our largest annual art fairs, now taking place at the same time. I'm sure you’ll have an exciting and inspiring first-hand experience of Hong Kong's vibrant art scenes there. 
 
     Before closing, I would like to express my thanks to the Uffizi Galleries for their great support of this year's Museum Summit. My thanks, as well, to the prominent speakers and moderators joining us here from all over the world.
 
     Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a rewarding Summit, and for our many participants from abroad, a memorable stay in Hong Kong. Thank you very much.

Ends/Friday, March 24, 2023
Issued at HKT 13:24

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