"Hong Kong is on the verge of becoming a very vibrant, cultural city. It is not quite there yet, but a lot of the ingredients are in place," Professor H K Chang, chairman of the Culture and Heritage Commission said.

Schools are incorporating more arts and culture into the curriculum. Students are being taken on field trips to museums, galleries and heritage sites. Developers are giving more weight to designing apartment complexes that take into consideration environmental and cultural aspects. And the cultural sediment of Hong Kong, built up generation after generation, is starting to turn into bedrock from which the territory's future cultural foundations will rise.

Professor Chang believes Hong Kong has not yet managed to build up a strong cultural awareness and understanding, which Hongkongers can be proud of, because of the transient nature of the territory.

"Hong Kong was a trading outpost; not really a colony like Australia," he said. "Up until 1984, people always considered it a borrowed place on borrowed time, so Hong Kong has not had the environment that would allow Chinese or Western culture to flourish and take root."

Half of Hong Kong's population, most of whom arrived after the Second World War, were originally peasants with little or no education. Because they never really had a sense of belonging here -- even today many make regular trips "home" to the Mainland every weekend -- their only concern was making money.

He believes Hong Kong's former label of borrowed place borrowed time, a lack of cultural sediment, and possibly the low tax credit, created little incentive for businesses or individuals to get involved in the arts.

"If you have no sense of belonging, you don't feel this is the place you want to build up. You just want to take your money and run," he said.

These are some of the key ingredients that have held back cultural development and pride in Hong Kong. Ironically, this transient nature of the territory has created a truly cultural melting pot of East meets West and cultural pluralism. As a result, any Westerner who visits Hong Kong immediately feels comfortable. They are also among the elements that have brought it to the verge of becoming a vibrant cultural centre.

"What it needs now is the business sector to chip in more and help it go the final mile," Prof Chang said.

He points out that in all the vibrant cities of the world, including Shanghai and Beijing, the private sector is taking on a greater role in arts and cultural development. Even in a "socialist" country, there are private museums and galleries, and developers are incorporating old building facades into their designs to preserve, promote and ultimately profit from the cultural heritage of the city.

"Sponsorship is also very important, and we are seeing more and more of that. In the end, no city or metropolitan area can become a really, truly cultural centre without the corporate sector willing to put in time, and planning energy to help," he said.

Prof Chang argues that economic and cultural development are not two separate things. In the past, during the era of Mozart, people who had power and money were the patrons of culture. This is partly why culture is associated with wealth. But the equivalent of nobles today are the corporations, he said.

"My point is that we are now in a society where culture does not have to necessarily come after the creation of wealth. Culture itself can be a creator of wealth as well," he said.

Hong Kong's high population density and the millions of tourists who visit the territory annually means there is a potentially huge market for the arts, culture and creative industries to tap. The creative industries will also contribute greatly to Hong Kong's transition into a knowledge economy.

And most importantly, Prof Chang said he believes the mental equilibrium, creative mind and positive attitude that arts and culture can nurture in people would be a definite asset to employers.

"I believe a good cultural grounding, a fine appreciation of art and culture and history can help a person achieve sound judgement, a positive attitude and an innovative mind," he said. "Those things are what companies want in their employees, but those qualities cannot be ordered out of thin air. They have to be cultured.