Asia Cultural Forum 2025: Ministers Collaborate on Arts and Cultural Development in Hong Kong.

2025-04-22 20:54 Last Updated At：22:28

Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum+ 2025 promotes cultural co-operation

Key event of the Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum+ 2025, Ministerial Panel, has been held this afternoon (April 22). Participating cultural ministers and senior officials from 17 countries joined the Panel. They exchanged views and shared experience on policies and measures to promote arts and cultural development. Organised in Hong Kong, the Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum+ 2025 further strengthens Hong Kong's position as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.

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Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum+ 2025 promotes cultural co-operation Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

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Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum+ 2025 promotes cultural co-operation Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The theme of the Forum is "Connect, Create, Engage: Bridging Cultures for All". Officiating at the Panel opening today, the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, highlighted that the world has undergone rapid and vigourous changes and technological advancement is something inevitable. A people-oriented approachshould be adoptedto promote the arts and cultural development, i.e. to connect more with people, to create more for people and to engage more people. Making good use of Hong Kong as an East meets-West centre for international cultural exchange and the largest art trading centre in Asia, Hong Kong will surely continue to work hard to make our name card more shiny and tell good stories of Hong Kong.

In addition to the speeches given by Miss Law and Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Gao Zheng in the Panel, participating cultural ministers and senior officials from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam also took turns to speak.

The Acting Chief Executive, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, hosted the gala dinner for the delegations as well as local cultural leaders. Local musicians, all-inclusive orchestra and a cappella choir were invited by the forum to perform in the dinner, showcasing a blend of Chinese and Western traditional and contemporary music, demonstrating to the guests the diversified and vibrant of art and culture scene in Hong Kong.

In his speech at the dinner, Mr Chan pointed out that the Government has been actively fostering the city's development into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange with the clear national support in the National 14th Five-Year Plan. With its unique advantage of blending Chinese and Western cultures and its extensive international connections, Hong Kong will become a "super connector" and "super value-adder" between the Mainland and the rest of the world.

The delegations attending the forum visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art and Oil Street Art Space (Oi!) yesterday (April 21). They will attend the plenary session and visit the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District tomorrow (April 23).

The Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum has been held since 2003 with the aim of promoting cultural co-operation and exchanges among regions. Drawing on the success of past forums, this year's forum is themed "Connect, Create, Engage: Bridging Cultures for All" and has expanded its scale. In addition to inviting more Asian countries to participate, Belt and Road countries outside of Asia are invited to participate for the first time to further promote cultural exchanges with countries in the region.

Hong Kong's Commitment to Innovation Highlighted at Nobel Heroes Forum

Speech by CS at Nobel Heroes Forum: Shaping Science and Future

Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, at the Nobel Heroes Forum: Shaping Science and Future today (January 12):

Dr Wong (Chairman of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Council, Dr Peter Wong), Professor Zhang (President and Vice-Chancellor of the HKU, Professor Zhang Xiang), Mr Turner (Executive Director of Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, Mr Nikolaus Turner), distinguished Nobel Laureates, esteemed scientists,ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. It is my great pleasure to join you today for the Nobel Heroes Forum: Shaping Science and Future.

To our Nobel Laureates – we are truly privileged to have you with us. You represent the very best of human curiosity and perseverance. Your ground-breaking work expands our understanding of the universe, lights the path for future discovery, and inspires generations. Thank you for joining this extraordinary gathering.

And to all our distinguished guests from around the world – a very warm welcome to Hong Kong.

Today's dialogue is more than an academic event. It is a powerful convergence of the world's finest scientific minds, right here in a city that is determined to play its part in global innovation.

Hong Kong's mission is clear and unwavering: to become a premier international innovation and technology centre. A hub where top scientists, scholars and entrepreneurs can thrive, collaborate and serve the world.

To achieve this, the Government is fully committed. We are building a world-class ecosystem and nurturing the talent to power it.

First, we are building the infrastructure for greatness.

We have established a strategic I&T framework centred on three major I&T (innovation and technology) parks and five key research and development institutions.

Building on the success of the Science Park and Cyberport, we officially launched the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone last month.

The Hetao Co-operation Zone is a major co-operation platform in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the National 14th Five-Year Plan. The Hong Kong Park is envisioned as a world-class hub for technological innovation, connecting the Chinese Mainland with the international community, and serving as an important source for fostering new quality productive forces.

Together with our five key R&D (research and development) institutions focus on frontier technologies, these developments will create more favourable conditions for Hong Kong to attract global I&T resources and talent.

Second, we are investing decisively.

We back our words with resources. We have launched significant funding schemes across the entire innovation chain.

To support excellent and impactful research, the Research Grants Council (RGC) under the University Grants Committee administers more than 20 competitive research grant and fellowship schemes.

Furthermore, last year we launched the 3 billion HK dollars Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme to empower ground-breaking basic research led by world-class researchers and academics.

To accelerate the midstream and downstream development, we rolled out three separate 10 billion HK dollars initiatives to drive the commercialisation of R&D outcomes and new industrialisation.

Third, and most crucially, we are nurturing and attracting top talent.

Talent is our ultimate driving force. We are expanding our talent pool through multiple strategies.

On nurturing young research talent, the Government has launched the Young Collaborative Research Grant to support early-stage researchers in leading and managing collaborative research. We are also actively fostering research collaboration between Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and overseas research funding agencies through operating various Joint Research Schemes. These partnerships not only foster academic exchange but also provide opportunities to nurture researchers in exploring new frontiers in their respective fields.

On attracting global talent, the RGC Junior Research Fellow Scheme has supported some 300 doctoral graduates from Hong Kong and around the world to pursue research careers at our universities.

Our international research flagship, the InnoHK research clusters, is also there to bring together brilliant minds from all over the world to conduct world-class scientific research. To date, our two existing InnoHK research clusters – one focusing on healthcare technology and another on AI and robotics – have successfully built links with over 30 world-class universities and research institutes from 12 economies, pooling together around 3 000 researchers locally and across the globe.

To go further, the Government is now expediting the development of the third InnoHK research cluster, with the focus on sustainable development, energy, advanced manufacturing and materials.

Our strategy follows a powerful cycle: promoting technology with talent, leading industries with technology, and attracting talent with industries.

And we are seeing results. Hong Kong ranks third globally in "Technology" in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranks first in the 2025 Global Innovation Index Ranking of the World's Top 100 innovation clusters.

Our startup community has grown nearly fivefold in the past decade, producing homegrown unicorns.

This progress is no accident. It is built on Hong Kong's unique strengths. Under "one country, two systems", we enjoy unwavering national support and unparalleled global connectivity. Our robust rule of law, free-flowing capital and vibrant multicultural society make Hong Kong the perfect incubator for scientific exploration and technological breakthroughs.

To every scientist, researcher and innovator here today: Hong Kong is open for you. We provide the platform, the funding, the freedom and the connections to turn visionary ideas into reality.

We invite you to build your legacy here. To join us in shaping not just the future of Hong Kong, but the future of science for humanity.

On this note, let the dialogue begin. I look forward to the fruitful and inspirational exchanges. Thank you.

Asia Cultural Forum 2025: Ministers Collaborate on Arts and Cultural Development in Hong Kong.

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