Govt Backs PMQ Tenants, Cinemas

The Government will provide financial assistance of $25 million to PMQ for waiving rentals and fees payable by its tenants from May 1 until the end of 2020, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau said.

Rentals and fees payable by creative industries-related tenants, which make up the vast majority of PMQ tenants, will be waived in full, while those payable by other tenants will be reduced by 75%.

A total of 107 tenants will stand to benefit.

The bureau said: "Tenants of PMQ have been suffering from unprecedented pressure in recent months amidst the COVID-19 epidemic, which led to cancellation of multiple creative events and a sharp decrease in the number of visitors.

“The financial assistance will help to relieve the business pressures of PMQ tenants during this challenging time.”

The Government has also rendered support to cinemas by providing a one-off subsidy of $100,000 per screen to each cinema licensed as a place of public entertainment with commercial operation in March 2020.

The maximum subsidy for a cinema circuit is $3 million.

As at the application deadline on April 30, Create Hong Kong has received and finished processing applications from all eligible cinema operators who are operating a total of 59 cinemas.

Funding will be disbursed in the next two weeks.