Hong Kong has the potential to become a high-profile art-dealing hub for global collectors due to its low taxes and location, which can be enhanced with more museums, infrastructure and talent, according to academics.
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Unlike many overseas markets that require buyers and sellers to pay taxes, Hong Kong has no sales tax or capital gains tax, and offers a low-tax regime for individuals and businesses, making the city ideally suited to become an art-trading hub, according to Joost Schokkenbroek, a professor of museum studies at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Schokkenbroek was part of a team at HKU that was instrumental in launching a one-year museum studies course to train talent in management, marketing and fundraising for museums.
“The course is gaining traction,” he said, pointing out that 66 students had enrolled in the programme this year, up from 45 in the inaugural year. This, he said, would help in providing talent required for art management in the city.
Schokkenbroek’s home country, the Netherlands, has nearly 1,000 museums for a population of 18 million, or one for every 18,000 people. In contrast, Hong Kong has about 50 museums for 7.5 million people – one for every 150,000 people.
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In March 2023, the government unveiled eight measures to attract wealthy individuals to establish family offices to manage their wealth, facilitate succession planning, oversee art collections and support charity work. One of the measures was the development of an art-storage facility at the Hong Kong International Airport, which is due to open later this year.
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