e-Hong Kong 87

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco (SFETO) hosted a series of events in various cities across western United States. In fact, the celebration activities began early in January this year with six giant vase shaped bamboo sculptures, designed by Hong Kong artist-cum-designer Freeman Lau, installed at the Civic Center Plaza, outside the City Hall of San Francisco. A “Hong Kong- Young Entrepreneur Competition” was then launched in spring. This summer, five U.S. college student-winners went on a week-long trip to Hong Kong to see first-hand the city’s start-up ecosystems, as well as the rich and dynamic culture.

On June 23, close to 400 guests from the local business, political and academic communities in the San Francisco Bay Area attended a gala reception, hosted by SFETO at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. The reception was immediately followed by a concert titled “A Musical Journey” at the Herbst Theatre. Over 60 members of the Hong Kong Oratorio Society from Hong Kong joined hands with San Francisco Bay Area’s Voices of the Valley for the first time to perform in California. The evening concert highlighted Hong Kong’s talent in music.

After the successful performance in San Francisco, “A Musical Journey” took place again at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on June 25, attended by more than 1,000 music-lovers. A pre-concert VIP reception was hosted by SFETO at the Music Center.

Two days later, a gala reception was held in Dallas, Texas. A four-member Chinese Music Ensemble of the Hong Kong Oratorio Society flew to Dallas after the concerts in California and performed at the reception. The audience was treated with a unique performance, featuring dizi, pipa, erhu and sheng.

The celebration continued on June 29 with the opening of the Hong Kong Showcase, a special film festival presented by SFETO. The Showcase opened with “Mad World”. The three-day festival included the screening of recent productions - “Weeds on Fire”, “Cook Up a Storm”, as well as the classics - “Shaolin Soccer and Infernal Affairs”. A gala reception was held on the opening night.

Addressing the guests who attended the receptions in different cities, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr Clement Leung and Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Mr Ivanhoe Chang highlighted the achievements and developments of Hong Kong in the past two decades.

“Twenty years ago, Hong Kong proudly reunited with our homeland. Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' arrangement, we are part of China but are able to maintain unique identity. Hong Kong continues to be successful as the premier international business center in Asia. Our economy has nearly doubled in size over the past two decades. We are the undefeated champion as the freest economy of the world for 23 years. We are the number one IPO stock market,” said Commissioner Leung.

“With the full support of the Central Government in Beijing, ‘One Country, Two Systems’ enables Hong Kong to be the first-mover to capture the economic opportunities arising from the reform, development and opening up of Mainland China. Other than our pillar economic sectors of trade, financial services, tourism and professional services, new sectors and opportunities have emerged. These include the development of Hong Kong as the largest center for off-shore RMB business, implementation of the Stock Connect programs that enable international investors to access the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, our vibrant innovation and technology start-up ecosystem, wine auction and distribution, arts, culture and creative industries, as well as China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative,” he continued.

Mr Ivanhoe Chang expressed his appreciation of many friends of Hong Kong who joined the celebration events hosted by the Office to celebrate Hong Kong’s special milestone. He said that since 1997, Hong Kong has grown in importance in international arena and continue to prosper. In addition, Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan community enjoys a wide selection of arts and cultural events from East and West. He was proud to bring Hong Kong music talents to join hands with local U.S. arts community to present “A Musical Journey” concerts. It also provided a platform for cultural exchange between the two places.

Film plays a key role in the arts and culture scene in Hong Kong. At the Hong Kong Showcase in Seattle, Mr Chang highlighted that “Mad World” and “Weeds on Fire” were produced by two new directors, Wong Chun and Steve Chan. Both won the First Feature Film Initiative, launched by the Hong Kong Government in 2013 to identify and nurture talent through a competition focusing on screenplays and production proposals. The two films received full funding from the Government-financed Film Development Fund.