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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Sports Subvention Scheme

The LCSD subsidises NSAs and other sports organisations in sports promotion and development. In 2019, subventions totalling about $389 million were allocated to 60 NSAs and 24 other sports organisations, which held 10,750 programmes for 750,100 participants. Local and international events staged by the subvented NSAs included the Asian U-22 (Men & Women) Handball Championships, Boccia International Sports Federation - Hong Kong Boccia World Open, East Asian Karate Federation Championships, East Asian Muaythai Championships and Hong Kong Race Week. In the 2019-20 Budget, the government announced allocating additional resources of about $100 million to NSAs in the next two years to support their participation in overseas competitions, offer more squad training programmes and support underprivileged athletes.

To enhance the NSAs' corporate governance, the department organises seminars that raise awareness among NSA office bearers and management staff of their roles and responsibilities in effective board practices, strategic planning and risk management. Over 220 NSA representatives attended the seminars in 2019.

Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation (Main Fund)

The Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation (Main Fund) supports NSAs, district sports associations, schools and NGOs to buy equipment and build facilities for physical education and sporting activities. It places emphasis on generating long-term benefits, encouraging the purposeful use of leisure by young people and promoting sports in the community.

Elite Athletes Development Fund

The Elite Athletes Development Fund provides a stable financial source for the sports institute to develop elite sports. It received a $6 billion injection from the government in 2018-19.

Hong Kong Athletes Fund

The government's Hong Kong Athletes Fund provides education grants for eligible athletes, one-off grants for eligible retired athletes at the time of retirement from sports training through the Elite Athletes Performance Recognition Scheme, and cash incentives through the Youth Athletes Scholarship Awards for junior athletes participating in major sports events. In the 2019-20 Budget, the government announced an injection of $250 million to increase scholarship awards to support the dual career development of athletes and provide more cash incentives for full-time athletes when they retire from sports.

Culture and Arts Funding

Capital Funding

The government granted an upfront endowment of $21.6 billion to the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in 2008 to develop the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) so as to meet the long-term infrastructural and developmental needs of Hong Kong's arts and culture. Separately, the LCSD's East Kowloon Cultural Centre was granted $4.17 billion and is targeted to be completed in 2021 for commissioning in 2022 to provide a 1,200-seat auditorium and a 550-seat theatre. The government also set aside $20 billion in 2018 to improve and develop

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