New milestone: Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho exchanges documents with Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications & the Arts Dr Lee Boon Yang at the signing ceremony.

Hong Kong and Singapore have signed a memorandum of understanding to foster active cultural and arts exchanges between the two cities.

The memorandum, signed today by Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho and Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications & the Arts Dr Lee Boon Yang, is another milestone in the warm relationship between the two places.

Dr Ho said the move will help inspire innovative ideas and bring long-term benefits to both places. 

"We need cultural co-operation to foster a closer and more vibrant city alliance, one that provides ample room for mutual appreciation, improvement and cross-fertilisation. I am sure the one entered into by Singapore and Hong Kong today will pave the way for the realisation of this vision," he said.

The memorandum will provide a formal framework to further strengthen the current state of active cultural exchange, and promote co-operation in the fields of culture and the arts. Such co-operation will lead to mutual awareness, respect, understanding, harmony and friendship between the people of both places.

Both governments have started to explore the activities to be carried out. For a list of the possible co-operation initiatives, click here.