HONG KONG-- The government of Hong Kong is planning to ask for 150 million HK dollars ($19.2 million) of public money for promoting Olympic games in the southern Chinese territory, a government official said Saturday.
Donald Tong, deputy secretary for home affairs of the Special Administrative Region government, told the local broadcaster RTHK that "the money would go to Olympic promotion events as well as activities aimed at the entire general public."
The Home Affairs Department is expected to submit the 150 million HK dollar budget proposal to the Legislative Council in mid-December.
Up to 60 million HK dollars of the money would go to events aimed at the widest general public, including a torch relay, street carnivals and Olympic bazaars.
Another 23 million HK dollars would go to activities at local communities.
The government also planned to mount Olympic-themed logos, signs, posts and billboards on buildings along major streets and avenues, Tong said.
The government-affiliated Tourism Bureau would have 29 million HK dollars out of the budget, which Tong said the institution could decide for itself how to spend.
Exhibitions aimed at promoting public knowledge of the Olympics were also planned.
Hong Kong was handed the right to host the equestrian events at less than three years running up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Although famed for its horce-racing culture, the city did not have an established equestrian tradition until recently.
It had been investing hugely in building and upgrading venues for dressage and show jumping events in the past two years, leading to applause from sportsmen competing in a test event in August as well as officials from the International Olympic Committee.
Lam Woon-kwong, chief executive of the Olympic Equestrian Events Company, said last month that Hong Kong would start a wave of heavy promotion as it readied the venues.
Skyscrapers on the skyline along Hong Kong's renowned Victoria Harbor have recently been decorated with neon signs featuring Olympic mascot in the image of horse riders, helping the Olympic air. But some said promotional efforts had been too slow.
The eight-hour torch relay, which comes to Hong Kong in May, will be broadcast live to the world, a government official has said, adding that celebrations involving tens of thousands people will be planned in the process. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 US dollar)
