M+ chairman touts creative products as key to museum's future revenue growth
M+ Board chairman Paulo Pong said creative cultural products will drive future revenue. He revealed HK$200 million turnover from three equal sources. He defended senior executives' salaries and flagged potential Ocean Park collaboration.
West Kowloon's M+ Board chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee has highlighted creative cultural products as a primary driver of the museum's future revenue and explored potential collaborations with Ocean Park.
In an interview with local media, Pong revealed that merchandise and venue rentals, corporate sponsorships, and ticket sales each contribute one-third of its HK$200 million turnover in the current fiscal year. He noted that the museum has already collaborated with over 300 artists and 200 brands to develop merchandise, and has partnered with over 50 organisations to diversify its income through venue rentals and other initiatives.
Pong addressed public concerns regarding the combined annual salaries of M+'s four senior executives, which total nearly HK$11.44 million. He argued that M+'s ability to secure partnerships with century-old overseas institutions and boost its cost recovery rate to 47 per cent in the latest fiscal year, as a young institution open for only five years, was due to the connections and expertise of its world-class talent.
Hong Kong faces a risk of poaching as mainland China and neighbouring regions aggressively recruit museum professionals, a threat that prompted the establishment of the 'M+ Academy' this year to train and retain local talent, he added.
Pong, who concurrently serves as the chairman of the Ocean Park Corporation Board, also expressed optimism about potential collaborations between M+ and Ocean Park, stating that the museum would conduct studies to explore joint opportunities.