(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government will engage young people in its Happy Hong Kong campaign by letting them try their hands at running a business in the Gourmet Marketplace, a key feature of the campaign that aims to bring more joy to everyone.

Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak made the remarks at a press conference this afternoon, saying that the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau will meet various bodies and groups as well as the catering sector to discuss the way forward for launching the large-scale food fairs.

She expressed hope that the Gourmet Marketplace, to be held in various districts in the coming months, will also help stimulate local consumption, apart from being a venue for people to share happy and enjoyable moments together.

“We have gone through three very difficult years. That is why the Financial Secretary has decided to launch the Happy Hong Kong campaign.

“There were many successful food fairs that had been organised in the past in Hong Kong. And we will build on those experiences to develop our Gourmet Marketplace to bring together overseas, Mainland and local gourmet at the food fairs.”

Also at the press conference, Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung elaborated on the tourism initiatives contained in the Budget and explained the rationale behind the proposed schemes that strive to offer fully guaranteed loans for eligible passenger transport operators and licensed travel agents.

“We are not comparing a recovery fund with the (fully guaranteed) loan scheme (for eligible passenger transport operators and licensed travel agents as to) which one is better or not.

“I think the objective is, we know that the trade is facing or under some pressure during this (recovery) period when the tourism industry (has) started to pick up. There may be pressure on (its) financial resources as well as employment.

“So when we look at the loan scheme, we find that it actually could provide extra financial support that could serve as a (way to) tide (it) over during this interim period when its businesses start to pick up.

“If you really want to compare (the loan scheme) with a recovery fund, the main difference, for the fund, is (that) the Government is (putting) some money into the fund to support the trade, whereas for the loan scheme, the Government is putting up a commitment to guarantee that the mortgage corporation will get the money back in case of default.

“This year we are having a deficit budget. We are very tight in terms of spending money. So if we have a loan scheme that could also serve the purpose of helping the industry during this interim period, then it may be the most suitable one at this moment.”