Question :
Under Programme (6) Travel and Tourism, the Government will inject $12 million into the Mega Events Fund (MEF) due to the increased cash flow requirement for the MEF. Please provide information on the vetting of funding applications to the MEF in 2009-10.
Asked by : Hon. FANG Kang, Vincent
Reply :
The Mega Events Fund was established in May 2009 following funding approval of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council. Since then, a maximum sum of $27.2 million has been approved to support seven mega arts, cultural and sports events to be held in Hong Kong. On top of attracting more visitors, stimulating spending and creating employment, mega events can also add colour and vibrancy to Hong Kong, raise Hong Kong’s international profile and promote Hong Kong as the “Events Capital of Asia”.
Details of the seven projects and their respective upper limit of funding are provided in the table below. As the organisers are required to fulfil funding conditions and return any operating surplus to the Government, the actual amount of funding can only be determined after project completion and Government’s scrutiny of the audited accounts and evaluation reports submitted by the organisers.