Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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- Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13
Question : With regard to the Mega Events Fund, please advise on the following: (a) How will the additional $150 million earmarked for the Fund in the coming year be allocated among the three types of mega events, namely large-scale arts, culture and sports events? Have any studies been carried out on the economic benefits of such events for Hong Kong? If yes, please give the details. If not, will consideration be given to allocating more resources for relevant studies in the following year? (b) What are the funding criteria? Is there any ceiling set on the financial support for each event? (c) What is the estimated number of events receiving support under the Fund in 2012-13? What is the expenditure involved? What are the expected economic benefits? Asked by : Hon. IP Wai-ming Reply : (a) In his 2012-13 Budget, the Financial Secretary has proposed to allocate another $150 million to the Mega Events Fund (MEF) and extend its operation for five years. The MEF Assessment Committee is studying ways of giving the MEF more flexibility to facilitate its effective operation. We wish to finalise detailed modus operandi of the new scheme and consult the Economic Development Panel of the Legislative Council on the proposal as soon as possible. Our plan is to seek funding approval from the Finance Committee within this legislative year. The number of mega events to be supported, as well as their nature and funding amount etc. will depend on the number of applications received and how many of them can successfully pass the assessment. It is envisaged that events to be supported by the MEF in the next five years will attract more visitors to Hong Kong, stimulate spending and create employment. According to past experience, it is estimated that the MEF supported events can create over 15 000 jobs over the next five years. Mega events can also generate considerable benefits in many sectors such as retail, food and beverage, hotel, travel trade, etc., and bring about extensive publicity for Hong Kong. (b) The MEF has a strict and open assessment mechanism. Successful applications must fulfil certain basic criteria. For instance, the proposed event must be an arts, cultural or sports event; the organiser(s) must be local non-profit-making organisation(s); and the number of participants in the proposed event must exceed 10 000. To pass the assessment, the proposed event is also required to attain passing marks for each of the assessment criteria including economic benefits, publicity benefits, scale of the event, technical and financial feasibility, as well as the applicants’ event management capabilities etc. The MEF Assessment Committee has been assessing each of the applications carefully in accordance with the open assessment mechanism. Applications failing to meet any of the assessment criteria will be rejected. The funding amount for each supported event varies. The MEF Assessment Committee will consider a number of factors such as the event’s content, scale, duration, venue requirements, budget, other funding sources (such as commercial sponsorships and box office income) as well as the capability of the organiser(s), etc.. The Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Commerce, Industry and Tourism) will determine the amount of funding for each selected application with reference to the MEF Assessment Committee’s recommendation. To attract mega events to be staged in Hong Kong, there is no funding ceiling for each selected event except that the funding amount cannot exceed 50% of the total event’s cost. (c) The number of mega events to be supported in 2012-13, as well as their nature and funding amount etc. will depend on the number of applications received and how many of them can successfully pass the assessment. The estimated expenditure for the MEF in 2012-13 is $8.7 million. This amount is reserved for paying the outstanding balance in respect of those MEF supported events completed before the end of March 2012 and is therefore less than that in 2011-12. After deducting this amount, the remaining balance of the MEF (around $40 million) will lapse automatically. The economic benefits to be generated by the MEF supported events in the coming year will depend on the number and nature of these events.
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