Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung began a visit to Thailand this afternoon by meeting the country’s Minister of Culture Sermsak Pongpanit and Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya to discuss exchanges in the areas of culture and tourism.

Mr Yeung said: “At the opening ceremony of the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced eight major steps China will take to support high-quality Belt & Road co-operation, one of which is to strengthen the institutional building for international Belt & Road co-operation, including building multilateral co-operation platforms covering culture and other fields.

“Hong Kong has a Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation with Thailand, creating a favourable environment to strengthen collaboration between the two sides under the Belt & Road Initiative framework.”

Mr Yeung added that “Hong Kong Week 2023@Bangkok”, a three-week event that starts tomorrow and is organised by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department from tomorrow, will showcase the diversity of Hong Kong’s arts and culture, while communicating good stories about China and Hong Kong to a Bangkok audience.

He also stressed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to facilitating cultural exchanges and co-operation across Asia.

The Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum 2022, held in Hong Kong in December last year, provided a platform for participating cultural ministers and senior officials, including those from Thailand, to share their views and experience in relation to policies and measures promoting arts and culture development.

The National 14th Five-Year Plan outlines clear support for Hong Kong to develop into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. A key task is to facilitate culture exchange and co-operation within Asia and internationally.

Mr Yeung will continue his visit tomorrow.