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May 18, 2004

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The Government report into the taxpayer drain known as Harbour Fest slams everyone involved. From The Standard:

Mike Rowse, the director general of InvestHK, has been broadly condemned by the investigation panel. The panel stated that Rowse had failed ``to adequately discharge the role of controlling officer of the HK$100 million for the event as required by law''. It also said InvestHK, the promotion arm of the government under Rowse, had failed to consider the role of the government to engage the public for the event, which was intended to revive Hong Kong's economy after the crippling effects of the Sars outbreak. Rowse had failed in almost every aspect from start to finish, in his handling of the issue, according to the report.

The panel stated ``it is astonished'' that InvestHK, on behalf of the government, entered into binding obligations with AmCham - the organisers of Harbour Fest - to the extent of HK$100 million under three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) without consulting the Director of Justice. "This is quite inconceivable in the private sector for a business entity to enter into a legally binding contract involving such a substantive financial obligation without consulting the company lawyer,'' the inquiry team's report said.
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In dedicating one quarter of its 202-page report to the American Chamber of Commerce's (AmCham) organisation of the festival, the Independent Panel of Inquiry into the Harbour Fest said inexperience contributed to its "modest success''..."AmCham did not have any prior experience with organising mega events like the Harbour Fest nor did it have any experience with receiving government sponsorship to organise events'', the panel said.

The report itself makes entertaining reading. It concludes by effectively saying the whole thing was a sorry mess and lessons should be learnt and we all move on. Staggeringly they then say there is a role for Government in such future events in a "dedicated public-private sector partnership". Most coutries seem to have a rock/pop music concert scene without Government support. If there's a market for such festivals then Government has little place in subsidising them. There are plenty of festivals that come to mind that got by without taxpayer money. And people think Hong Kong is the world's freest economy. The rest of the recommendations amount to common sense. But that's something for whichi you cannot legislate.

The funniest part (and if you don't laugh you'd cry) is the report authors spent 5 minutes on the internet finding the "going rate" for the various artists that performed at Harbour Fest. Admittedly these are rates for performing in the US but with the promoter usually covering transport and accomodation costs the numbers should be broadly comparable. So who did the best in the ancient art of haggling? Prince got US$800,000 more; boy-band Westlife US$300,000 more than usual; Neil Young got US$700,000 more than his usual US$100,000. Wow. Most of them were already doing Asian tours anyway so this was literally money for jam. The only ones who didn't do well were the Rolling Stones who played for US$500,000 less than their usual fee. Losers.

 posted by Simon on 05.18.04 at 10:26 AM in the




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