Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung has appointed Chinese contemporary artist Xu Bing as Ambassador for Cultural Promotion for about five years starting today. As Ambassador for Cultural Promotion, Mr Xu will initiate a series of large-scale art projects in Hong Kong and nurture young talent to promote cultural development. The Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau said the appointment aims to extend the Ambassador for Cultural Promotion scheme to other fields of arts, after Chinese composer, musician and conductor Tan Dun became Hong Kong’s first Ambassador for Cultural Promotion last year. Speaking at the appointment ceremony today, Mr Yeung said Mr Xu is widely recognised as one of the most innovative and influential Chinese contemporary artists. The culture chief added that the Museum of Art collected one of Mr Xu's most well-known works A Book from the Sky, which contains both traditional and contemporary elements, just like Hong Kong
(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)
The Government today launched the Pilot Green & Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme to encourage local practitioners and prospective practitioners to receive training related to green and sustainable finance.
It launched the scheme in response to the new trend of developing a low-carbon and sustainable economy.
The three-year pilot scheme is open for application by Hong Kong residents, who are market practitioners or prospective practitioners of green and sustainable finance ie students and graduates in relevant disciplines.
After completing eligible programmes, full-time student applicants can apply for a subsidy of up to 100% of the relevant fees, while others can reimburse up to 80% of the fees, subject to a ceiling of $10,000.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said: “We are committed to developing Hong Kong into a regional hub for green and sustainable finance, and nurturing talent is a crucial task in supporting such development.
“The Government would launch the pilot scheme and earmark $200 million to provide subsidies to eligible people participating in the training, with a view to building up the local green and sustainable finance talent pool and thereby supporting the development of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong.”
So far, 19 programmes, provided by the professional and continuing education schools of local universities, professional institutions, international training providers etc, have been registered as eligible programmes under the scheme.
The list of will be updated from time to time, the Government added.
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