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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 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. “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 concerned authorities and different industry partners, and promoting events while actively working to propel and attract more mega events to be held in the city successfully”.
Shui said it was “necessary to have a high-level city office to manage and oversee these processes more effectively”.
He made the comments as the think tank released a report on developing Hong Kong into a sports mega events hub. But some facilities would need to be improved to bring them in line with global standards, he said.
“Take the current tennis court at Victoria Park for example. The baseline falls short of meeting certain International Tennis Federation requirements,” he 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 was less than the federation’s 6.4-metre 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 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 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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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.
