【明報專訊】THE LONG-AWAITED Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development was finally unveiled. It sets out a total of 71 measures under four strategic directions, covering a wide range of considerations but, regretfully, also lacking in priorities. The authorities have put forth a "model of diversity" in developing the arts, culture and creative industries, emphasising that they will not cherry-pick any specific sectors for priority development or provide the industries with additional funding. As for how they will achieve the goal of doubling the added value of the culture and creative industries within 10 years, we can only wait and see.
According to information from the Census and Statistics Department, the added value of Hong Kong's arts, culture and creative industries was about $122.1 billion in 2022. The target set by the Blueprint is to raise it to $200 billion in the next 10 years, nearly doubling the current figure.
The arts, culture and creative industries also cover performing arts more on the niche side, museums, amusement services, as well as electronic gaming, software and interactive media; but even taking these fields into account, it would still surprise many that the added value is as high as $122.1 billion. In fact, the figure also covers the trading of art, antiques and crafts; even sectors such as architectural design and advertising are included. That results in an extremely broad definition of the arts, culture and creative industries, making it difficult to have a focused discussion in relation to the Blueprint.
The four strategic directions set out by the Blueprint include: promoting the profound traditional Chinese culture and developing cultural contents with Hong Kong character; developing diverse arts and culture industries with an international perspective, building Hong Kong as a "capital of pop culture" and enhancing the quantity and quality of its hardware; establishing international platforms to foster arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world, thereby attracting tourists to Hong Kong; enhancing the ecosystem of the arts, culture and creative industries, encouraging the participation of private markets and building an industry chain to pool talent together.
South Korea has experienced thriving development of its cultural and creative industries over the past two decades. Its government has played an important part in driving the boom of the entire industrial chain by "cherry-picking" certain sectors to nurture. In contrast, the Hong Kong authorities hold the opinion that it is "suitable" for the city to adopt a model of diversity. The Blueprint has not designated any cultural or art projects for priority development. Neither will the authorities provide additional funding to support their industrialisation.
The essence of an industrial policy is helping targeted sectors through policy support and assistance to accelerate their development. This naturally involves making selections and judgements. If the invisible hand of the market alone is enough to construct a vibrant industry, a government does not need to formulate an industrial policy. Refusing to select is, in effect, avoiding judgements. A policy that lacks strategic focus inevitably invites doubts about its effectiveness.
The Blueprint does mention the industries' pain points and complaints, such as the lack of performance venues, and the funding mechanism for art groups favouring larger ones — thus hindering the growth of small- and medium-sized groups — and so forth. Still, the authorities have offered no viable solutions, only to say that they will "study the possibility" of loosening restrictions on various venues to increase the supply of performance and exhibition spaces. As for the system of sponsoring art groups, they also only mention that a "comprehensive review" will be conducted. Given such evasive talk by the authorities, what the industries can do is wait and see.
明報社評 2024.11.27：文創發展須定重點 產業化莫畫餅充飢
《文藝創意產業發展藍圖》千呼萬喚終出爐，提出四大發展方向合共71項措施，涵蓋面相當廣泛，然而亦有缺乏焦點之嘆。當局提倡以「多元模式」發展文創產業，強調不會「擇優」重點催谷特定行業，也不會提供額外資助，10年間倍增文創產業增加值的目標如何實現，還得拭目以待。
根據統計處資料，2022年本港文創產業增加值總額約為1221億元，藍圖定下的目標，是未來10年將相關金額增至2000億元，差不多較目前增加一倍。
一些較為小眾的表演藝術、博物館和娛樂服務，還有電玩、軟件及互動媒體等，都是文創產業的一部分，只是即使計及這些領域，相信不少人對增加值金額高達1221億元，還是感到有些意外。事實上，數字乃是將藝術品、古董及珠寶等買賣，以至建築設計、廣告等行業也計入其中。這令文創產業的定義變得極廣，導致有關藍圖的討論不易對焦。
藍圖提出四大發展方向，包括：弘揚中華傳統優秀文化，發展香港特色文化內涵；發展多元及國際化的文化藝術產業，打造香港成為流行文化之都，提升硬件量與質；建立國際平台，促進中外文化藝術交流，吸引旅客；完善文藝創意產業生態圈，鼓勵私營市場參與，建設文創產業鏈及匯聚人才。
韓國文創產業過去廿年發展蓬勃，政府「擇優」重點催谷特定行業，對於帶動整個產業鏈，發揮了重要作用。反觀香港，當局認為香港「適合」取多元模式發展，藍圖沒有指定某些文化藝術項目作重點發展，當局也不會為了推動產業化，提出額外撥款資助。
產業政策的本質，就是針對指定產業，透過政策上的扶持及援助，加速它們成長，這本身就必然牽涉到揀選與判斷。如果單靠市場無形之手，已足以令產業蓬勃發展起來，政府也毋須搞什麼產業政策。不去揀選其實就是迴避判斷，缺乏策略重點，難免令人擔心成效不彰。
藍圖其實有提及業界面對的一些痛點和投訴，例如表演場地不足，以及藝團資助制度向大藝團傾斜、中小型藝團難以發展，等等，只是當局並未提出解決良方，僅表示會「研究」放寬不同場地限制，提供更多表演及展覽場地；藝團資助制度，也只是「全面檢討」。當局說法如此含糊，業界只能觀望。
/ Glossary生字 /
cherry-pick：to choose the best people or things from a group and leave those that are not so good
in effect ：used when you are stating what the facts of a situation are
evasive：not willing to give clear answers to a question