ENG-2010 — Page 458

384 | Recreation, Sport and the Arts

A sum of $1.5 billion was injected into the arts portion of the Arts and Sports Development Fund in 2010-11 as seed money. The annual investment from its returns will be used to subsidise the long-term development of the arts and culture. Based on an annual return of around 4 per cent, the estimated returns from investments should reach about $60 million a year. A new funding scheme to supplement the existing public funding system and to promote public-private partnership in the local arts development will be launched in collaboration with the Advisory Committee on Arts Development, established in November 2010.

The Government also injected $69 million into the Cantonese Opera Development Fund in 2010-11 to support more projects for the preservation, promotion and development of Cantonese opera. Since its inception in 2005 up till the end of 2010, the Cantonese Opera Development Fund had granted financial support amounting to about $33 million to some 340 Cantonese opera projects.

Funding for the Major Performing Arts Groups

The Home Affairs Bureau provides regular funding for nine major performing arts groups from the $2.82 billion recurrent fund for the arts and culture.

The recipients are: the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance. Company, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Ballet, City Contemporary Dance Company, Chung Ying Theatre Company and Zuni Icosahedron, who together received about $264 million in 2009-10.

The money is to enable these groups to provide the public with quality arts programmes at affordable prices.

Capital Funding

The Government also supports the development of the arts and culture in Hong Kong by building and operating show venues for different arts and cultural performances, public libraries and museums.

In 2010, there were 15 performance venues of varying sizes at accessible locations across Hong Kong. In addition, work is progressing on converting the Yau Ma Tei Theatre and the Red Brick Building into a Xiqu (different forms of Chinese opera) centre at an estimated cost of $186.7 million and on building an annex to Ko Shan Theatre at an estimated cost of $683.2 million. In addition, a major performing arts venue in Kwun Tong to serve the East Kowloon region is being planned while the feasibility of building another performance venue to serve the New Territories East region is being studied.

The Government also manages 14 public museums, the Hong Kong Film Archive, two heritage centres and the Art Promotion Office and operates a network of public libraries, comprising 66 static and 10 mobile libraries. Work is also progressing on reprovisioning a number of libraries, including those in Tin Shui Wai, Lam Tin, Pak Tin and Yuen Long, while a new public library at Siu Sai Wan is under construction.