Hong Kong needs office overseeing planning for mega events, think tank says

The Hong Kong government should set up an office to coordinate planning for mega events, one of the city’s top think tanks has said.

Our Hong Kong Foundation also said on Monday that a number of sports venues needed upgrading to comply with international requirements.

Authorities released a list in January of more than 80 “mega events” to be held in the first half of the year, and added about 100 more in March to be held between July and December.

While the government has dedicated a group and team to manage them, foundation vice-president and co-head of research Kenny Shui Chi-wai said more needed to be done.

“We do not need to start from scratch,” Shui said as the think tank released a report on developing Hong Kong into a sports mega events hub. “The government already established a coordination group earlier this year, which is a cross-departmental and cross-bureau initiative.