Hong Kong youth affairs officials, together with local business and cultural heavyweights, on Thursday lent their united endorsement to the aspirations of hopeful young creatives, calling on them to marshal ideas, creativity, and commitment to secure a foothold in the cultural workforce and help power the country’s cultural economy.

They addressed a gathering of the Bi-city Youth Cultural Leadership Program — the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s (HKPM) flagship youth exchange initiative — at the Swire Archives in Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay, where young aspirants from Hong Kong and Beijing reflected on their cross-city learning and discussed peer engagement, cultural reciprocity, creative innovation, and career direction.

Now in its fifth year, the eight-week program — backed by Swire Properties as lead sponsor and supported by Beijing’s Palace Museum and the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing — has this year increased its participant cohort from 16 to 22 university students from the two cities.

The theme, “Culture in the Making”, is intended as an invitation for young people to “explore, interrogate, and reimagine the dynamic relationship between cultural spaces and urban life across cities”, said the organizer.

The program’s first three weeks since early July have taken participants to cultural landmarks across Beijing, Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and Hong Kong, including Beijing’s 798 Art District, Guangzhou’s Bai’etan Greater Bay Area Art Centre, and Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK). The coming four weeks will see the group intern at leading cultural organizations in Hong Kong, such as WestK, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Swire Properties, and DX Design Hub, before a late-August “ideas market” held in the city that will mark the program’s finale.

“Very valuable,” Clarence Leung Wang-ching, under-secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, said of the initiative in his address to Thursday’s exchange session, describing it as a great opportunity for young people to closely engage with major artists and experienced cultural practitioners.

He added that he “anticipates with joy and excitement” the innovative concepts that participants will be able to realize for Hong Kong’s creative and cultural sectors through their internship placements.

Leung reaffirmed the SAR government’s strong focus on youth development, citing the Youth Development Blueprint released in late 2022. He said that the document, which outlines the city’s vision and guiding principles for long-term youth development, initially contained over 160 concrete actions and measures, and has since been enhanced with a further 130 additions.

Also at the event, HKPM’s Museum Director Louis Ng Chi-wa told young students that “in today’s fast-changing cultural landscape, we need your fresh ideas and a bold vision to drive positive change in the creative industries and society at large”. And to the industry leaders in the room, he added: “Engaging young talents is essential”.

Contact the writer at gangwen@chinadailyhk.com