$4B+ TO BOOST CREATIVE ARTS BRANDING 

While delivering his Budget speech, Financial Secretary Paul Chan reported that the Government will earmark $45 million to establish a support centre for patent search and analysis and inject over $4 billion to support film, arts and design projects.

Regional intellectual property trading centre

Mr Chan stressed that the effective protection and efficient transaction of intellectual property (IP) is important to promote industries such as research and development (R&D), cultural and creative industries, design services, and brand licensing industries in Hong Kong. 

In fact, he pointed out that for the past three years, the Intellectual Property Department granted an average of more than 10,000 standard patent registrations each year, which is a clear indication of the enormous potential of the IP trading market in the city.

As such, the Government will introduce into the Legislative Council in the first half of 2024 a proposal to amend the Inland Revenue Ordinance with a view to implementing the “patent box” tax incentive, which will reduce substantially the tax rate for profits derived from qualifying IP to 5%.

This incentive, Mr Chan explained, aims to encourage enterprises to devote more resources to R&D and conduct commercialisation transactions making use of patents and other IP protections.

Participate in dedicated programme of World Intellectual Property Organization

The Government is also planning to establish a World Intellectual Property Organization Technology & Innovation Support Centre (TISC) in Hong Kong to enable Hong Kong’s integration into the country’s TISC network.

“The TISC will focus on providing specialised services such as patent search and analysis for the protection of scientific research results and enhanced support to the innovation and technology (I&T) sector, while promoting IP trading at the same time.

“The TISC also helps nurture local I&T talent well versed in patent knowledge. In this regard, I have set aside $45 million to support the Productivity Council in establishing and operating the TISC.”

It is anticipated that the TISC will commence operation by 2025 at the earliest.

As the only common law jurisdiction in China, the Financial Secretary emphasised that Hong Kong enjoys a robust legal system and a pool of elite legal talent, which are cornerstones of Hong Kong’s premier business environment and provide the city with new opportunities for development.

With the staunch support from the central government, the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), upon establishment, will have its headquarters hosted in Hong Kong. 

As IOMed specialises in resolving international disputes by means of mediation, it will be the first international inter-governmental organisation to set up headquarters in Hong Kong. 

Apart from attracting dispute parties, mediators and legal professionals to conduct mediation in Hong Kong, Mr Chan said he is confident the presence of IOMed will boost other related economic activities.

“Furthermore, the Department of Justice will continue to promote Hong Kong’s legal and dispute resolution services by organising international conferences and exchange activities, as well as leading delegations of legal professionals to visit the Mainland, the Middle East, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, etc.”

East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange

Describing Hong Kong as a melting pot of Chinese and Western cultures, Mr Chan made it clear that the Government is committed to developing high-quality arts, cultural and creative industries through continuously developing relevant sectors, promoting Chinese culture and fostering arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world. 

Accordingly, it will soon promulgate the Blueprint for Arts & Culture & Creative Industries Development, to outline the vision and specific initiatives for the work.

Creative arts branding

To show its commitment to creative arts branding, the Government will inject about $1.4 billion into the Film Development Fund and $2.9 billion into the CreateSmart Initiative in 2024-25 to support projects in various areas such as film, arts and design. 

Among such projects, Mr Chan said the Government will organise Hong Kong Fashion Design Week annually from 2024 onwards. 

“It is our vision to turn the Hong Kong Fashion Design Week into an Asian fashion design mega event, thereby introducing Hong Kong’s fashion design brands internationally.”

Signature Performing Arts Programmes

Furthermore, he highlighted that the Government announced the launch of the Signature Performing Arts Programme Scheme. 

“The scheme will support production of representative and large-scale local signature performing arts programmes to be staged as long-running performances and become another cultural icon of Hong Kong.”

The Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau will devise the key arrangements of the scheme in the first half of 2024.

Large-scale arts events

As far as large-scale arts events are concerned, the Government plans to organise the first Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo in October this year.

The finance chief stated that the expo will provide a comprehensive platform for showcasing top-notch performing arts productions and enhancing exchanges to create business opportunities for such programmes and creative talents.

What’s more, he revealed that the Government will organise the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture & Arts Festival.

“With more than 100 arts and cultural activities taking place in Hong Kong and different cities of the bay area, the festival is expected to feature about 5,000 artists and draw a total of 140,000 visitors,” Mr Chan added.

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