Learning experience: Invest HK's Director-General of Investment Promotion Mike Rowse stands next to Financial Secretary Henry Tang at a stand-up following the release of the Harbour Fest inquiry report. Mr Tang, who also chairs the Economic Relaunch Working Group, said he would actively follow up on the panel's recommendations.

An independent panel asked to investigate the Harbour Fest event has concluded that there is "a definite role for the Government if similar events are to be staged in future."

Solicitor Moses Cheng and accountant Brian Stevenson, the two panel members, issued their report to the Chief Executive on May 15. It was released to the public today.

In a statement, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said he accepted the panel's findings and recommendations, and noted that their views "will definitely serve as a useful reference if and when we are to stage similar events in the future."

Harbour Fest ran $625,000 deficit

The Government gave $100 million to sponsor the project as part of the $1 billion it had earmarked for large-scale publicity and promotional campaigns aimed at restoring Hong Kong's reputation after the SARS outbreak.

The American Chamber of Commerce put forward the idea to stage world-class entertainment and variety shows at a customised venue to be built at the Tamar site. AmCham was given responsibility for planning, organising and implementing the festival, while InvestHK was to scrutinise and assess the budget.

In the end, 16 shows were produced - but the project ran a $625,000 deficit, and early on it became the subject of negative publicity.

"It is indeed regrettable that the good initiative of the Government and of the American Chamber of Commerce ended in a controversy. I agree with the Panel that all of the parties involved in the various phases of the project were responsible in their respective ways," the Chief Executive's statement said.

"We will further examine the report carefully to determine any necessary follow-up action by the Government. Specifically, I have also asked the Secretary for the Civil Service to consider whether any action needs to be taken in respect of any officer."

Panel spoke with 28 people, read 63 submissions

After meeting with 28 individuals and reading submissions from 63 people and organisations, the panel concluded that Harbour Fest 2003 would not have been possible without Government support. 

In future, though, it recommends that the Government not shoulder a sole sponsor role or underwriter role.

"We recommend that there must be a dedicated public-private sector partnership to ensure shared commitment, both financially and operationally, between the Government and the private sector," the report states.

"For its part, the Government should mobilise inter-departmental support of the relevant Government agencies and make it a joint effort within Government. The Government must be represented on the organising committee of the event, even if it is only playing the monitoring role."

Partnership between Government, private sector key

The Government should work with private commercial sponsors, business and industry experts on any future events of this type. The finances should come from the private sector while the Government can provide logistical support and a venue while business and industry experts contribute professional and operational input.

"This will ensure professionalism and synergy," the report says. 

The Government must exercise prudence and duly assess the merit and feasibility of future proposals - as well as the capability of the proponents. The report noted that the Harbour Fest Organising Committee "was handicapped by their lack of knowledge in concert promotion and their lack of acquaintance with experts in the field."

The panel also concluded that "there appears to have been some degree of overpayment to most of the Western artists for performing at the Harbour Fest."

Public, media must buy into future projects

In future, the Government should institute a proper monitoring framework for the event, and strive to achieve the maximum value for money.

Another key recommendation is that the Government put in place an early strategy to engage the public and the media to facilitate discussion, acceptance and buy-in. 

"By so doing, Hong Kong can aspire to have a pop music festival featuring on the Hong Kong events calendar in the same way as the annual Hong Kong Arts Festival," the report states.

Financial Secretary expresses disappointment, regret

Financial Secretary Henry Tang, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Relaunch Working Group that was responsible for getting Hong Kong's economy back on track post-SARS, told the media he accepts the findings and the recommendations in the report.

"We will study the report in detail and we will actively follow up on its recommendations," Mr Tang said.

"We had a view that we wanted to relaunch our economy and rebuild public confidence as fast and as soon as possible. With hindsight, both the working group and AmCham have underestimated the complexity of organising the Harbour Fest and we have overestimated its benefits.

"As Chairman of the working group, I agree with the inquiry report and the report by the director of audit made earlier, that there are inadequacies in the preparation of the Harbour Fest. In many respects we all could have done better. Because of these factors, Harbour Fest did not attain the results that we set out to achieve. We express our deepest disappointment and our regret. We will certainly learn from this experience."

Click here to see the full report.