Youth Development Summit held

August 10, 2024

Encouraging remarks:

Chief Executive John Lee speaks at the Youth Development Summit.

Inspiring experience:

Hong Kong fencer Vivian Kong, (second right) who won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, takes part in a sharing session during the summit.

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Chief Executive John Lee:

Young people are our greatest asset. The Hong Kong SAR (Special Administration Region) Government attaches great importance to youth development and released the first Youth Development Blueprint for Hong Kong. This holistic document highlights our vision, and concrete steps, for youth development. Young people are the future pillars of our society. Our vision is to foster a new generation of youth equipped with a global perspective, aspiring and positive mindset, and affection for our country and city. We strive to provide our youth with a nurturing environment and hope for the future.

The people of Hong Kong and I take great pride in the outstanding performance of our young athletes. They have made historic progress this year by winning two gold medals and two bronze medals for Hong Kong (at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games) so far. But more than medals, each athlete has demonstrated great determination, unwavering efforts, energetic passion and strong team spirit, all valuable attributes of our Hong Kong spirit. While we cannot all be Olympic champions, we can all be champions of our own stories. We can all live in the spirit of the Olympic motto – "Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together" in our pursuits. And I believe that Hong Kong is a great place to make that happen.

The Youth Development Summit today, the inaugural summit of its kind for Hong Kong, attracted over 2,400 youngsters as participants and about 500 of them came from the Mainland and overseas locations such as Singapore, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

The summit marks the opening and highlights of the 2024 Youth Festival, with "Set Sail for New Horizons" as its theme. It gathered officials responsible for youth policies from different regions, along with business leaders, talent in technological innovation, creative experts, young entrepreneurs and representatives of youth organisations as guest speakers.

While officiating at the summit, Chief Executive John Lee stressed in his opening remarks that young people are the future pillars of our society and that the Government attaches great importance to youth development.

Noting that the people of Hong Kong take great pride in the outstanding performance of the city’s young athletes, Mr Lee pointed out that they have made historic progress by winning two gold medals and two bronze medals for Hong Kong at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games so far.

“More than medals, each athlete has demonstrated great determination, unwavering efforts, energetic passion and strong team spirit, all valuable attributes of our Hong Kong spirit. While we cannot all be Olympic champions, we can all be champions of our own stories.

“We can all live in the spirit of the Olympic motto – ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together’ in our pursuits. And I believe that Hong Kong is a great place to make that happen.”

Also at the summit, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki shared the direction and major progress of the Government and different sectors of society in promoting youth development.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak, while giving opening remarks at the summit's thematic sessions, highlighted that Hong Kong is filled with opportunities where individuals with diverse abilities and aspirations can unleash their strengths and pursue their dreams.

Click here for the latest updates of the events under the 2024 Youth Festival.