Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco

In collaboration with the Asian World Film Festival, we are presenting “Focus on Hong Kong” in Los Angeles on Nov 14-17, 2024. This special program pays tribute to renowned filmmaker Peter Chan and showcases four captivating #HongKong #films. Romance - “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” (甜蜜蜜) Drama - “In the Mood for Love” (花樣年華) Thriller - “Mad Fate” (命案) Action - “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” (九龍城寨之圍城) The celebrated film director and producer Peter Chan will meet the audience at a Q&A session after the screening of his award-winning work “Comrades: Almost a Love Story”. For ticket and screening details of “Focus on Hong Kong”, please click here https://lnkd.in/gV7ww422

#HongKong has launched new measures to enhance the #TopTalentPassScheme (#TTPS) and the #QualityMigrantAdmissionScheme (#QMAS).   - Expand the list of eligible universities under the TTPS. The newly added institutions include the Parsons School of Design, The New School; and Rhode Island School of Design in the US.   - Extend the validity period of the first visas of Category A applications under the TTPS, i.e. applicants with an annual income reaching HK$2.5 million (around US$321,000) or above in the year immediately preceding the date of application. - Enhance the assessment criteria and arrangements of the General Points Test under the QMAS and streamline the application and selection process. Check out the details at Hong Kong Talent Engage’s website at https://lnkd.in/grY2Qzku

The third annual Hong Kong Generations of Cinema" successfully concluded over the weekend in Losa Angeles. Presented by LAAPFF and sponsored by our office, this year’s program focused on the theme of #Cantopop. Six #HongKong titles - "Rouge", "Days of Being Wild", "Happy Together", "July Rhapsody", "Anita" and "The Lyricist Wannabe" - from different decades highlighting the connection between music and storytelling were presented during the event on October 26-27. Delivering her remarks after a special reception on October 26, our director Ms Jacko Tsang said that the office was honored to work with Visual Communications, the organization behind LAAPFF, to bring the program to Southern California three years in a row. She expressed delight that the program had expanded from a one-day showcase to a two-day celebration of Hong Kong #cinema following the success of the first two years. 

#HongKong is set to become a global #innovation hub. On #biotechnology, Hong Kong’s scale of fundraising for biotechnology is one of the largest in the world. “One of the reasons why we moved the Asia-Pacific headquarters to Hong Kong is because we wanted to make a bet on the growth in the biotechnology industry in China. Hong Kong is a well-developed city where the East meets the West. It is the best way to travel, or my best place to travel to Europe, to the US, to Japan,” Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of biotech company Insilico Medicine said. More on the story of Insilico Medicine: https://lnkd.in/gxtQW_GE

Our office partnered with the Santa Fe International Film Festival for the second year in a row to bring the special program "A Spotlight on Hong Kong" to New Mexico. “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” and “All Shall Be Well”, two talk-of-the-town feature #films from #HongKong were showcased at the festival, which was held October 16-20. Speaking at a filmmakers’ brunch hosted by our office and SFiFF over the weekend, our Director, Ms Jacko Tsang, introduced some of the latest measures implemented by the Hong Kong Government to inject new power into Hong Kong #cinema, including the “Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme”, which aims to subsidize film projects co-produced by filmmakers from European and Asian countries to produce films featuring Hong Kong, European and Asian cultures. She encouraged filmmakers to explore opportunities in Hong Kong and be a part of the revival journey of Hong Kong cinema. 

The third annual “Hong Kong Generations of Cinema” is going to take place this weekend (October 26 – 27, 2024) in Monterey Park, CA. This year’s theme centers around #Cantopop and its profound influence on #HongKong #cinema. Showcasing iconic films and stars that have shaped generations, the lineup will feature filmmaking from different decades, including: -       Days of Being Wild (阿飛正傳) -       Happy Together (春光乍洩) -       Rouge (胭脂扣) -       Anita (梅艷芳) -       July Rhapsody (男人四十) -       The Lyricist Wannabe (填詞L) For more on ticket information and showtimes, please visit the festival website at https://lnkd.in/gt_hvp8p

#HongKong is ranked the freest #economy in the world, among 165 economies covered in The Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report. Among the five areas of assessment in the report, Hong Kong ranked top in "Freedom to trade internationally" and "Regulation", while its ranking in "Sound money" rose to third. Hong Kong has for long, fully leveraged the advantages of a free market, and maintained a free, open, effective and fair business environment, and the ranking fully reflects the international recognition of these advantages. https://lnkd.in/gMsnyhJJ https://lnkd.in/gTa7CgPr

Over 1000 local and visiting paddlers made a big splash at the Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival in Foster City, CA over the weekend. With a diverse array of vendors and the “Dragon Land”, an arts and crafts workshop for kids, the two-day festival also attracted hundreds of visitors and spectators. Our office hosted a booth at the festival promoting #HongKong culture from a lip sync challenge of the Cantonese dialect to Hong Kong’s local delicacies and latest attractions. Visitors played a game featuring Hong Kong’s landmarks and were happy to receive Hong Kong-themed souvenirs. #dragonboat

Our office, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Association of Southern California, hosted the "Success stories, Business Mixer and Student Seminar" in Los Angeles, CA last Thursday. The event brought together business leaders and student communities in Southern California, providing an excellent opportunity for networking and learning the latest development of #HongKong. At the seminar, our Director Ms Jacko Tsang provided a comprehensive update on the #business environment of Hong Kong, including the city's economic situation and its ranking as the world's freest economy in the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report. Ms Tsang also took the opportunity to brief participants on some of the key measures announced in the Policy Address 2024, which include the development of a University Town and the establishment of a third medical school as part of the efforts to establish Hong Kong’s role as an international hub for post-secondary #education. The event also included an experience sharing session by companies sharing their success stories in building and expanding their businesses.

Our office celebrated another year of successful collaboration with the Hawai'i International Film Festival (#HIFF) in Honolulu last week. At the 44th edition of the festival, Sandra Ng, an iconic #HongKong actress and a versatile performer who brought her last work, "Love Lies", to Hawai'i, was awarded the HIFF Spotlight On Hong Kong Filmmaker in Profile Award. She attended the festival with renowned filmmaker Peter Chan and received the award from celebrity comedian Ronny Chieng. Speaking at the VIP reception hosted by our office, Director Jacko Tsang said that the return of "Making Waves - Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema", presented by the Hong Kong International Film Society, made the Spotlight on Hong Kong program even more remarkable this year. Sandra, alongside actress Patra Au and Michelle Wai, as well as director Sasha Chuk, Anselm Chan, Albert Leung and Hebert Leung, all attended the festival in person and interacted with the guests at the reception. Their latest #films presented at the festival also received enthusiastic responses from the audience. The program was made possible by the support of the Film Development Fund and the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency.