Hong Kong (CNS) -- Donald Tsang, chief executive and president of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, announced in a recent policy address that the year 2012 is slated to become "Hong Kong Design Year."
Chairman Victor Lo of the Hong Kong Design Centre anticipates Asia will be developed into the largest design center on the globe, driven by its economic prosperity. All of which is an impetus and opportunity for Hong Kong to sieze the crown as the Asian metropolis of creativity.
The slogan "A City Driven by Design" and a symbol with a pair of brackets implying "inclusive" will be used in all design activities in the coming year.
The authority plans to hold more than 30 design activities at local, regional and international levels, pouring a budget of 50 million Hong Kong dollars (around 6.43 million USD) into the cause. That will fund, among other things, the first Design Fest Asia, plus several exhibitions and award ceremonies.
The plan aims to raise public awareness of how important design and creativity is to economy, society, and the environment in general, as well as how much design can improve individual lives.
The 2009 statistics show that the annual production value of Hong Kong's creative industry amounts to 60 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.71 billion USD), mostly fed by the design sector, noted Jerry Liu Wing-leung, head of the Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR.
