Hong Kong will benefit from the Mainland's prosperous development and play a unique role in contributing to it through enhanced cultural exchanges and co-operation across the boundary.

This was the message from Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing, speaking at the opening ceremony for a forum on cultural co-operation in Beijing today.

He said Hong Kong is adept at deriving from and integrating with foreign culture in developing its own cultural characteristics. The Government also promotes the development of cultural software in collaboration with the community.

"Organising arts festivals is an effective means to support the growth of culture and the performing arts, make reference to international experiences, cultivate audiences and develop cultural brands."

A large number of arts festivals with different themes were offered by the government and community groups throughout the year in Hong Kong, providing diverse cultural programmes to seven million Hong Kong people and 30 million visitors each year.

"These arts festivals have become an important component of Hong Kong as a dynamic city, providing not only quality cultural programmes to the public but also a platform of performances for local and budding artists as well as opportunities for them to exchange with world-class masters. The Government will allocate more resources to support arts festival activities," Mr Tsang said.