The 16th Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural Co-operation Meeting was held in Hong Kong on 18 and 19 June. The meeting and related activities counted with the presence of the Hong Kong Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr. Tsang Tak-sing; the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Mr. Ung Vai Meng; and the Deputy Director of the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, Mr. Gu Minqiang, as well as with around 100 representatives from the cultural sector of the three regions.
The President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng, spoke at the meeting referring that the three regions have been developing a spirit of cooperation over several years, obtaining positive achievements and promoting the regional cultural development. This meeting allowed the three regions to launch more exchange and research projects, deepen the cooperation concepts, innovation methods, enrich their respective contents and raise the level of that cooperation. Last year, the cooperation between the regions reached important achievements. Firstly, a Regional Museum Pass for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao was developed, with a view to further building audiences in the region by encouraging pass holders to visit the museums in the three regions. Secondly, youth exchanges within the three regions have been developed by annually organising, since 2009, the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Cultural Exchange”. Thirdly, a new mobile application has been developed containing the regions’ cultural map, thereby expanding the mobile functions of the Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural information network. The new mobile application makes use of a map as interface, offering users services such as positioning, searching, transportation guides and a ticketing platform, enabling them to conveniently browse cultural information of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The fourth achievement area is the training and exchange of talents. Last year, the three regions have fostered training of professional talents by organising a series of study and exchange visits as well as the third Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Museum Professionals Forum. Finally, the fifth achievement includes continuous organisation of large-scale exhibitions in the three regions as well as, through a cooperation model of creative works commissioning and regional tours, the promotion of an even greater number of quality artistic productions and the marketing of outstanding creative works in the three places.
The Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR and the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government have established a cultural framework within the Greater Pearl River Delta region, signing an agreement on cultural co-operation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao on August 2003 and setting up six working groups to implement and follow up on the recommendations for co-operation in different areas.
The working groups met to discuss six different topics, namely the exchanges of performing artists and the co-organisation of cultural programmes, the exchange of cultural information, the cooperation in the museum field, the cooperation and exchange in public libraries, the intangible cultural heritage and the cooperation of cultural and creative industries. The Hong Kong organization also prepared a visit of those present to cultural facilities in the neighbouring region, such as the Ko Shan Theatre, allowing them to experience Hong Kong’s cultural atmosphere. The next meeting will be held in Macao.