The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, today (June 27) met with the Director-General of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Hubei Provincial People's Government, Ms Zhang Xiaomei, to exchange views on enhancing youth development and exchanges between Hubei and Hong Kong. The Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung, and the Commissioner for Youth, Mr Wallace Lau, also joined the meeting.
Miss Mak welcomed the delegation led by Ms Zhang. Miss Mak said that Hong Kong and Hubei have frequent contact and close relationships in various areas including finance, innovation and technology, and tourism. Hubei and Hong Kong established a high-level government co-operation mechanism in 2021 to support Hong Kong youths to participate in exchange activities in Hubei to deepen their understanding of national affairs and history, as well as to cultivate their sense of national identity, with the help of Hubei's rich historical and cultural resources.
The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) promulgated earlier the Youth Development Blueprint which stated that the breadth and depth of the Mainland and international internship and exchange programmes will be further strengthened. The HYAB is also taking forward the resumption of various youth exchange and internship programmes this year. In the new round of the Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland, non-governmental organisations are sponsored to organise youth exchange tours to the Mainland, including tours in the fields of education, sports and culture in different cities of Hubei Province.
Miss Mak looks forward to exploring proposals to jointly promote youth development and exchanges with Hubei so as to provide more opportunities for Hong Kong young people to travel there and see for themselves the latest situation of the country.
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