Speech by CS at Opening Ceremony of Business of Design Week 2023 (29.11.2023)
29.11.2023

Following is the video speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, at the Opening Ceremony of Business of Design Week (BODW) 2023 today (November 29): Friends of BODW, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to join you all for Business of Design Week 2023. First of all, a warm welcome to our friends from the Mainland and overseas. Surely, your participation in this year's BODW is a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s dynamic and creative vibes. Since its launch in 2002, BODW has been an annual signature event in the global design community. This year's edition is no exception, featuring over 60 renowned speakers and over 40 inspiring sessions. The theme of this year's BODW, "Game Changers", couldn't be timelier. Hong Kong, and many other economies, have come out of the years-long pandemic and resumed full normality. It's time for policymakers, business executives and creative leaders, local and worldwide, to be game changing: setting ambitious goals, and driving smart innovation, in design and branding processes. Apart from knowledge exchange, BODW fosters international partnerships. I am especially pleased to note that the Netherlands is the partner country this year, bringing in a top-notch Dutch delegation to exchange design mindsets and creative solutions with other participants. I am proud to say that Hong Kong, as an international city where East meets West, is the right place to drive such dialogue. And our Government spares no effort to develop Hong Kong into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. The Chief Executive, in his second Policy Address delivered last month, announced that our Government will set up a dedicated Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency. This agency will engage a wide range of partners, with you all included, to proactively promote the development of arts, culture and creative sectors under an industry-oriented principle. Also, our Government's various Economic and Trade Offices on the Mainland and overseas will continue to step up cultural promotion and exchange, so as to strengthen people-to-people bonds between Hong Kong and the rest of the world. And do stay tuned to our launch, later this year, of a comprehensive blueprint on Hong Kong's arts and culture and creative industries development. This first-ever blueprint will feature a host of initiatives along four directions, namely: to develop diverse arts and culture with an international perspective, to promote Chinese culture, to drive cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world, and to drive industry building. Together, we will create a more diversified arts, cultural and creative ecosystem. Ladies and gentlemen, my thanks to the Hong Kong Design Centre and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for organising this year’s BODW. I am also grateful to the Netherlands, as well as all the strategic partners, in putting this flagship event together. I know you will enjoy this year's game-changing BODW, and I wish you all the best of business, and innovation, in the year to come. Thank you. Ends/Wednesday, November 29, 2023 Issued at HKT 12:06 NNNN