Hong Kong – Speech by SCST at award presentation ceremony of Disney Imaginations Hong Kong Design Competition 2023 (English only)

     Following is the speech by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, at the award presentation ceremony of Disney Imaginations Hong Kong Design Competition 2023 today (April 12):
      
Michael (Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Mr Michael Moriarty), Kelly (Executive Creative Director of Walt Disney Imagineering (Asia), Mr Kelly Willis), finalist teams, ladies and gentlemen,
      
     Good morning. I am very pleased to join you all here today at the award ceremony for Disney Imaginations Hong Kong Design Competition.
      
     May I first congratulate and express my appreciation to all the finalist teams on your excellent work of innovation and creativity, as well as your efforts and dedication in bringing us all these masterpieces. Having come this far in the competition, each of you should be proud of your accomplishments no matter which team wins at the end. Do keep up with the good work and continue to make the most of your imagination.
      
     I am glad that the competition, as one of the best-known youth creative competitions in Hong Kong, has now returned on an annual basis after temporary suspension during the pandemic. The competition not only provides an amazing platform for youngsters to showcase their creative work in the field of design, engineering and technology, but also gives us a great opportunity to discover and nurture potential talents in Hong Kong. I would like to thank Walt Disney Imagineering (Asia) and Hong Kong Disneyland for the continued efforts to build such a platform for our young generation to shine.
      
     Thanks to Disney Imagineers, many attractions have come to reality in Hong Kong Disneyland, notwithstanding the unprecedented challenges and difficulties brought by the pandemic in the past three years or so. For example, the new Castle of Magical Dreams unveiled in 2020, the very popular night-time spectacular “Momentous” launched in 2022, and the long-awaited World of Frozen, which is the first highly immersive Frozen-themed area in the world, will be opened in the second half of this year.
      
     The Hong Kong SAR Government has strong aspiration to drive the growth and integration of arts, culture and creative industries, as well as sports and tourism sectors. We have also committed resources to fuel the development of these sectors. For instance, the Hong Kong Tourism Board will deploy more than $250 million to sustain its efforts in organising major tourism events and help promoting various major culture, sports and tourism events globally.
      
     Indeed, this is already the third time I am here at Hong Kong Disneyland within a month, firstly for the 10K weekend running event in mid-March, then for the StellaLou’s Wonderful Wishes Ballet performance and now the award ceremony for this competition.
      
     I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Hong Kong Disneyland, a flagship tourism attraction in Hong Kong, to act by example to promote collaboration amongst the arts, culture and creative sectors, thereby diversifying its offerings and bringing additional joy and excitements to our tourists and locals alike, as well as giving much opportunities for practitioners and practitioners-to-be.
      
     Before I conclude my speech, I would like to once again congratulate all the finalists on their outstanding work, and would like to wish you all the best in your future endeavours. With all of our concerted efforts and our talented young generations, we are determined to bring Hong Kong’s development to new heights. Thank you very much!