The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) promoted opportunities in Hong Kong for innovation and technology (I&T) start-ups and companies that are attending the Web Summit Lisbon 2023 in Portugal.

     HKETO, Brussels hosted a networking reception for participants on November 14 (Lisbon time), in collaboration with Invest Hong Kong and supported by the Portugal-Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry. At the reception, Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels Miss Grace Li outlined Hong Kong’s distinctive advantages under “one country, two systems” and in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In particular, she highlighted opportunities for the I&T sector.

     Miss Li emphasised the commitment of the Government in strengthening the role of Hong Kong as an international I&T centre. She encouraged I&T companies to set up their operations in Hong Kong and benefit from the city’s business-friendly environment, a well-developed I&T ecosystem and a wide range of infrastructure facilities.
     ​
     The Web Summit is a major technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, and is being held this year from November 13 to 16 (Lisbon time). It has been attended by over 70 000 international participants in previous years, including entrepreneurs, investors and professionals in the field of technology.

     The Hong Kong String Orchestra (HKSO) gave a superb performance in Athens, Greece, on November 9 (Athens time), the first date of its “Strings of the Bauhinia” Central and Eastern Europe tour along the Belt and Road countries from November 9 to 18.

     The HKSO, one of Hong Kong’s outstanding arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, is supported by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for conducting cultural exchange activities outside Hong Kong to showcase Chinese artistic excellence as well as to tell the good stories of Hong Kong.

     The tour is performing two concerts in Greece, and one concert each in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania, led by its founder and artistic director, virtuoso Ms Yao Jue, on the special occasions of the 10th anniversaries of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and also the establishment of the HKSO in Hong Kong.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) was happy to support the HKSO in person with its guests in Greece on its first night in Athens, which is also the closing event for the “China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism”. The Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau, was also in Athens to applaud the inaugural concert of the tour.

     The HKETO, Brussels is helping to promote the concerts to its contacts in government, business and cultural circles in the cities. The Deputy Representative of the HKETO, Brussels, Miss Fiona Li, said there was no better way in forging people-to-people bonds and bridging the gap between different cultures along Belt and Road than sharing music. The concert tour also highlighted the efforts of the Government of HKSAR in grooming music talents with a view to developing Hong Kong to be an international arts and cultural exchange hub. Noting that the HKSO had achieved significant recognition in Hong Kong and internationally for its “music uniqueness in fusing Easter and Western influences”, she said it was emblematic of Hong Kong as an East-meets-West cultural centre, bearing a unique role in promoting the “Belt and Road Initiative”. 

     The HKSO aims to pave the way for young music graduates towards a professional career. By nurturing and engaging home grown talents it contributes to establishing Hong Kong as an international arts and cultural hub.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels), Create Hong Kong and Film Development Fund are jointly supporting the 56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, being held in Sitges in Spain from October 5 to 15 (Sitges time).
 
     The Festival is screening a total of five Hong Kong productions and co-productions. There are three recent films – Cheang Pou-soi’s “Mad Fate” (2023), Hoi Wong’s “Let it Ghost” (2022) and Philip Yung’s “Where the Wind Blows” (2022), as well as two films being screened as part of the Sitges classics selection – “The Dragon Lives Again” and “Enter the Game of Death” in the 1970s.
 
     The HKETO, Brussels hosted a reception on October 8 (Sitges time) to promote the Hong Kong productions to media representatives and film industry professionals.
 
     In her welcoming remarks, the Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Ms Shirley Yung, said that shaped by its unique history and way of life, Hong Kong is an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.
 
     “With its strategic location at the heart of Asia, Hong Kong will continue to be an important place for connecting cities and countries, providing a hub for different cultures to meet, collaborate and evolve,” she added. 
 
     Ms Yung said that tourists and business visitors alike were flocking to Hong Kong as it abounded with colourful festivals, wonderful exhibitions and cultural events. She invited guests to come and check out the vibrant cultural scene of Hong Kong for themselves.
 
     Established in 1968, the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the leading fantasy film festival in the world and welcomed more than 139 000 visitors in 2022. It screens films related to the fantastic genre, including action and adventure movies and black comedies, with a special emphasis on thrillers.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) is pleased to support the architecture exhibition “Transformative Hong Kong”, to be staged at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – Biennale Architettura 2023 – at La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale), in Venice, Italy.

     Speaking at the grand opening of the architecture exhibition on the afternoon of May 19 (Venice time), Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels Mr Henry Tsoi remarked that Hong Kong had one of the most recognisable skylines of any city in the world. Hong Kong has iconic buildings and record-breaking bridges, and is forging ahead with massive, ambitious projects like the West Kowloon Cultural District, as the city looks forward to the Northern Metropolis.

     “This exhibition celebrates Hong Kong as a vibrant and complex city, which has many qualities that are both critically difficult and critically inspiring, driving architects to find creative, innovative and sustainable solutions for the challenges that we are facing. I think the exhibition succeeds in delivering insights,” Mr Tsoi said.

     “Transformative Hong Kong” is a Collateral Event of the Venice Biennale, organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects Biennale Foundation and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and sponsored by Create Hong Kong. The exhibition introduces Hong Kong as a city on the cusp of its next development phase from institutional, creative community and public perspectives, and gives international and local audiences unique insights into the key urban issues facing Hong Kong in the near future.

     The architectural theme of the Venice Biennale this year is “The Laboratory of the Future”. It will be open from May 20 until November 26, 2023.