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Wynna Wong

The Hong Kong government should set up an office to coordinate planning for mega events, one of the city’s top think tanks has said.
Our Hong Kong Foundation also said on Monday that a number of sports venues needed upgrading to comply with international requirements.
Authorities released a list in January of more than 80 “mega events” to be held in the first half of the year, and added about 100 more in March to be held between July and December.
While the government has dedicated a group and team to manage them, foundation vice-president and co-head of research Kenny Shui Chi-wai said more needed to be done.
“We do not need to start from scratch,” Shui said as the think tank released a report on developing Hong Kong into a sports mega events hub. “The government already established a coordination group earlier this year, which is a cross-departmental and cross-bureau initiative.
“We suggest that this group be transformed into a permanent office.”
Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun leads the Mega Events Coordination Group, while the Leisure and Cultural Services Department runs the Mega Events Unit.
The Tourism Board also recently set up a Mega Event Development and Advancement team. According to the board’s website, the team is in charge of “fostering coordination” with relevant authorities and industry partners, as well as promoting events.
Shui said it was “necessary to have a high-level city office to manage and oversee these processes more effectively”.
Lawmaker Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, vice-president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, and a consultant for the report, said such an office could help in making decisions on large funding requests.
Fok said the World Aquatics Championships that Singapore was due to host in July and August next year was set to bring as many as 3,000 athletes to the city.
Its government had set aside about US$100 million (HK$777 million) to host the event, an amount Fok said existing financial support mechanisms in Hong Kong were unable to match.
“[That kind of money] wouldn’t be a decision one department [or bureau], such as the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, would be able to solely make,” he said. “We would need coordinating approval from the financial secretary.”
He argued the current funding for “M” mark status events, ones significant enough to qualify for taxpayer support, was insufficient to meet the needs of the mega events the city wanted to attract.
Authorities earlier said they allocated about HK$198 million through the programme last year to fund 18 large international sporting events, and were expected to spend another HK$200 million in 2024.

But some sports facilities would also need to be improved to bring them in line with global standards, the think tank said.
“It is indeed time to do a more in-depth review to see which venues can be upgraded and transformed so that we can hold new competitions,” Fok said.
International organisations now had “very high requirements” for venues hosting major sporting events, with increasing attention being paid to not just the competition but also the presentation, he said, citing the Paris Olympics as an example.
“There are videos, music … the athletes look like rockstars entering the stage – atmosphere is very important,” he said.
As an example of facilities that needed improvement, the foundation pointed to Victoria Park’s tennis court, where the Hong Kong Tennis Open men’s tournament took place in January, and which is set to host the women’s edition next month.
“[The court’s] baseline falls short of meeting certain International Tennis Federation requirements,” Shui said. “So if we want to do similar, bigger events in the future, that location needs upgrading.”
The distance between the audience stands and the lines at each end of the court were less than the federation’s 6.4-metre (21-foot) requirement for higher-level competitions, the foundation noted.
Shui also noted some football pitches did not reach 1,800 lux, as laid down in guidelines for large stadiums set by the Asian Football Confederation.
Other suggestions in the report included bundling together the promotion of sports and arts with events that fell under the category of MICE, or “meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions”.
The city could also co-host more large-scale events with its Greater Bay Area neighbours, the foundation said.
It added the city should take advantage of resources already set up in anticipation of the National Games next year, which Hong Kong will be co-hosting with Guangdong and Macau, and turn the local National Games Coordination Office into a permanent one.


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The Victoria Park Tennis Stadium. Our Hong Kong Foundation has called for an office dedicated to overseeing planning for mega events. Photo: Dickson Lee

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Our Hong Kong Foundation also says number of sports venues need upgrading to comply with international requirements


Our Hong Kong Foundation also says number of sports venues need upgrading to comply with international requirements.
