(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s leader John Lee sacked his ministers for tourism and transport.
Rosanna Law will replace Kevin Yeung as secretary for culture, sports and tourism, while Mable Chan will replace Lam Sai-hung as the city’s secretary for transport and logistics, Lee said at a press conference Thursday.
“I want to create the biggest societal and economic benefits for Hong Kong,” Lee said. “I want to have secretaries that will be able to deliver what I have in mind.”
The dismissal of two ministers in key postings comes as Hong Kong seeks to revive tourism in the city in the wake of protests, pandemic border closures and the imposition of national security laws. Retail sales have fallen every month since February in part due to weak spending by Chinese visitors.
Yeung’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau was singled out by Lee in his October policy address, when he criticized its failure to release a blueprint for the industries’ development, the South China Morning Post reported.
In February, a much-hyped exhibition match featuring footballing legend Lionel Messi turned into a public relations disaster for Hong Kong when the Argentinian footballer failed to play. The incident cast a pall on government efforts to showcase the city’s strengths and burnish its international image through large-scale events.
Next year the city will open a 50,000-seat stadium, which was originally intended to be completed in 2023. The venue will initially host the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, as well as Coldplay. The stadium is part of a new sports park at Kai Tak that’s cost HK$30 billion ($3.9 billion) to build, local media have reported.
Lee, a former policeman, assumed office in 2022, replacing Carrie Lam. No Hong Kong leader has completed two full terms since the UK handed the city over to China in 1997.
“We have lost time” due to Covid and the 2019 protests, and I want to “recover that time,” Lee said. “I am very confident the current team will unite and work with me.”
--With assistance from Felix Tam and Twinnie Siu.
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