Hong Kong Disneyland had launched a recruitment drive, with more than 1,000 people vying for 500 positions at the theme park, newspapers reported Sunday.

The park started auditions Saturday to fill about 200 slots for dancers, while auditions for actors, singers and musicians were to be held in November and January, the Sing Tao Daily reported.

The Apple Daily newspaper quoted a Hong Kong Disneyland official as saying the park would hire a total of 500 performers and had received more than 1,000 applications.

The HK$14.1 billion (US$1.8 billion) park is a joint venture between the Hong Kong government and Walt Disney. The government holds a 57 per cent share in the project with a total investment, including equity, loans and infrastructure expenditure, of HK$22.45 billion (US$2.88 billion).

The government claimed that the park "will produce substantial long-term economic returns" to the territory and was "a key strategic infrastructure component of a renewed and reinvigorated push to strengthen and consolidate Hong Kong's position as a must-see tourism destination".

(Shenzhen Daily November 1, 2004)