The World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China (Shanghai Expo) is a large scale international event, with participation from more than 200 countries, cities and international organisations.

The "Visit Expo‧Explore Shanghai" Sponsorship Programme aims at providing opportunities for the underprivileged groups in Hong Kong to visit Shanghai Expo. Non-government organisations will be sponsored to organise members from low-income families, mentally or physically disabled community to visit Shanghai Expo, so that participants could widen their horizons, interact with local groups and citizens, and enhance their understanding towards Shanghai. The programme is now open for applications.

Activity Programme
The destination shall be Shanghai Expo. Applicant organisations may also arrange visits to local organisations/schools/institutions for their participants to explore the local lifestyles, history and culture etc, which could help foster the understanding of Shanghai of the participants. The duration of the trip could be 5 days at most while all activities should be completed before 31 October 2010.

Eligibility
Applicant organisations should fulfill the following criteria :

1. Applicant organisations should be Hong Kong-registered non-profit making organisations, statutory bodies or recognised community organisations.
2. All activities seeking sponsorship are non-profit-making and will not be used for political, religious or commercial purposes for any individual or organisation;
3. Participants should be age 13 or above, a member of the underprivileged group, or physically or mentally handicapped persons.

Criteria
Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:

1. Whether the proposed visit programme fulfill the objective of this Sponsorship Programme; whether the content is rich and substantial; and whether visits to relevant organisations in the Mainland would be arranged;
2. The participants should be from the underprivileged groups;
3. The proposed budget should be cost-effective;
4. Feasibility and organisation of the proposed activities;
5. The background, professional qualifications of the applicant organisation and its track record of organising similar activities;
6. The maximum sponsorship to each proposed visit programme would be HK$100,000 with maximum sponsorship to each participant to be HK$850 per day (extra subsidies could be applied for participants with physical or mental disabilities);
7. A Vetting Committee will assess the applications based on the contents, scale and format of the proposed visit programme and decide on whether and how much funding shall be granted. The Vetting Committee's decision is final.
8. The final authority to interpret and define the content of this Sponsorship Programme rests with the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau.

How to apply
Applications can be submitted by post or by e-mail by 26 July 2010, 5p.m. (Late applications will not be entertained)

The application form can be downloaded here.

Please refer to "Visit Expo‧ Explore Shanghai" Sponsorship Programme for conditions of use of sponsorship funding and detailed application procedures.

Enquiries
Please contact us at expovisit@cmab.gov.hk or at 28102618 (Tel) / 28015565 (Fax) if you have any queries.