The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco works to promote Hong Kong not only as a vital economic center, a gateway to China where world-class standards for business are upheld, but also as a cultural interface between East and West, a government release said on Friday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of "Hong Kong Neon" film festival on October 4 (the US time) in Los Angeles, Annie Tang, the office's director, noted that cinema was a distinctive element of Hong Kong culture, and that ties between Hollywood and Hong Kong had grown significantly in recent years.

"Filmmakers from Hong Kong have found creative opportunities all over the world," she told attendees at the opening gala. "Some came to California, and have become well known here. Rather than just cutting ties with the place of their birth, however, they are developing careers that span both sides of the Pacific."

Hong Kong government set up a HK$100-million film development fund in 1999 to sustain the healthy and long-term development of the local film industry, including enhancing the industry's capabilities, facilitating the use of advanced special effects techniques and improving the skills of the workforce.

(Xinhua News Agency 10/06/2001)