Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto), Ms Emily Mo, joined the "HKJU Carnival 2021" hosted by Hong Kong Joint Universities Alumni (Ontario) (HKJU) held virtually on November 7 to share the fun with members of alumni from different Hong Kong universities.
Speaking at the carnival in a pre-recorded message, Ms Mo first updated participants on the latest COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and noted the city currently recorded case number in single digit and the cases were mostly imported.
On business side, despite the public health and social challenges, Hong Kong’s economic and financial system continued to demonstrate its strengths and resilience. Ms Mo moved on to cite various rankings of Hong Kong by renowned international institutions. “Hong Kong was named as the freest economy, ranked third as a global financial centre, the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment, and the third runway at the Hong Kong International Airport has also recently completed” Ms Mo said.
Ms Mo encouraged participants to learn more about Hong Kong’s unique business advantages in the newly published “Report on Hong Kong’s Business Environment” by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government.
In addition to trading and business, Hong Kong’s cultural performing venues have been reopened with precautions in place. “The HKSAR government is committed to reinforce the city’s status as an international arts and cultural hub, and the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), which is one of the largest cultural projects in the world, has already opened its door” Ms Mo said.
Following the completion of the Xiqu Centre in the WKCD at end of 2019, Ms Mo is delighted to update participants that M+, the first global museum of contemporary visual culture in Asia, will be opened in the coming Friday (November 12). “M+ museum includes 17,000 square metres of exhibition space across thirty-three galleries, three cinemas, a mediatheque, a learning hub, and a roof garden that faces Victoria Harbour. Around 1,500 works drawn from the M+ Collections will be presented in the museum,” she continued.
Ms Mo encouraged participants to discover the glamourous cultural side of Hong Kong when they plan their next visit to the city.
Participants of the carnival enjoyed a short video, entitled "Take a Glimpse at Hong Kong Neighbourhoods", to see how heritage buildings and traditional culture fuse with modern trends in places such as Sham Shui Po and old town Central in Hong Kong. Besides, the event also featured talent shows performed by different alumni, an online question-and-answer game, and a lucky draw. HKETO is delighted to sponsor the event and prizes for the online game as well as the lucky draw.
香港經貿處支持安省香港專上校友會聯會舉辦「萬千楓采嘉年華2021」
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於十一月七日參與由安省香港專上校友會聯會在網上舉行的「萬千楓采嘉年華2021」，與香港各大專院校的校友分享嘉年華活動的樂趣。
巫菀菁在嘉年華活動上透過預先錄製的短片致辭，她首先向與會者簡介香港最新的疫情，並表示香港現時錄得的個案都只是單位數字，而絕大部分都是輸入個案。
在經濟發展方面，雖然受到公共衛生及社會的挑戰，但香港的經濟及金融體系繼續穩定發展。巫菀菁援引多個國際知名機構對香港的各項排名說：「香港被譽為全球最自由經濟體系、全球第三大金融市場及第三大外來直接投資流入的地方，而香港國際機場亦剛剛完成第三條跑道的鋪設工程。」
巫菀菁鼓勵與會者可以參考香港特別行政區（香港特區）政府最新發布的《香港營商環境報告》，了解香港獨特的營商優勢。
除了商貿方面，香港的文娛表演場地在遵守防疫措施下亦已重開。巫菀菁表示：「香港特區政府一直致力鞏固香港作為國際文化藝術樞紐的地位。全球最大型文化基建項目之一的西九文化區已經啟用。」
隨著西九文化區的戲曲中心在二Ｏ一九年年底落成啟用之後，巫菀菁亦介紹亞洲首間全球當代視覺文化博物館M+將於星期五（十一月十二日）正式開幕。巫菀菁續說：「M+文化博物館有17,000平方米展覽空間，包括三十三個展廳、三個戲院、多媒體中心、學舍以及可以飽覽維港景色的天台花園，來自M+系列約1,500件作品將在博物館中展出。」
巫菀菁鼓勵與會嘉賓計劃下次到訪香港時親身感受一下香港迷人的文化色彩。
短片「香港景致一覽」會於嘉年華活動內播出，與會者可欣賞到香港深水埗和中環舊城等地區的歷史建築及傳統文化如何與現代潮流結合。此外，大會亦安排不同校友會負責的表演節目、網上問答遊戲及抽獎。香港經貿處是這次活動的贊助並為網上遊戲及抽獎環節送出獎品。
