Presenting his Budget at the Legislative Council today, Financial Secretary Paul Chan noted the remarkable performance of Hong Kong athletes in major international sports events last year. 

He said the Government will inject $250 million into the Hong Kong Athletes Fund to increase scholarship awards in support of the dual-track development of athletes, and provide more cash incentives for full-time athletes when they retire from sports.

Mr Chan also allocated around $100 million in the next two years to 60 national sports associations to support their operation, participation in overseas competitions, and procurement of equipment.

For the arts and culture scene, $176 million will be provided to the Leisure & Cultural Services Department for hosting large-scale world-class performing arts programmes in the next five years.

To further promote arts development, Mr Chan earmarked $54 million to support the operation of arts groups in 2019-20.

Another $20 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Film Archive to support the digital conversion of film copies.

This will enable the younger generations to appreciate the invaluable film heritage of Hong Kong, Mr Chan said.