When Candace Campos moved from the United States to Hong Kong six years ago, she encountered few hurdles to opening her own interior design company.
康妲絲．坎波斯6年前自美國搬到香港時，設立她的室內設計公司，過程順利。
She started small, transforming her 70-square-meter home from a gutted commercial rental into a bright living space styled like a New York loft. A 2008 cover piece featuring her apartment in the Hong Kong magazine Home Journal drew interest from expatriates who wanted to bring Western aesthetics into their Hong Kong homes.
她從小處著手，把她的70平方公尺住家從破舊出租商辦空間，變成有如紐約閣樓的明亮居住空間。香港「美好家居」雜誌2008年以她的公寓為封面，立刻引起旅港外籍人士的興趣。他們想把西式的美學元素融入自己的香港住處。
"The idea of leaving pipes exposed, beams and columns raw, and floors as concrete was not a design aesthetic found in Hong Kong," said Ms. Campos, 34. "So it was easy to stand apart from other designers."
34歲的坎波斯說：「管子外露、樑柱不多加修飾處理、地上鋪水泥，在香港看不到這樣的設計美學概念。因此，你很容易與其他設計師區隔。」
Her company, ID Interiors & Identity Design, has produced designs for restaurants like the Michelin-starred Tate Dining Room & Bar . Ms. Campos said the absence of homegrown talent has given her an advantage. Her biggest competition, she noted, comes from other expatriates .
她的ID室內裝潢及形象設計公司已經為一些餐廳做了設計，包括中環米其林級的泰特餐廳。坎波斯說，香港缺少本土人才使她占有優勢。她最主要的競爭來自其他外籍人士。
But Hong Kong, known more for its cargo ports and financial sector than for a vibrant cultural or creative scene, is working to move past an economy based on manufacturing and reproduction of goods to one based on innovation, branding and design, said Stanley Chu, 64, of the Adsale Group, which organizes international trade shows in Asia.
香港以它的貨物港口及金融業聞名，有活力的文化或創意領域相對乏善可陳。雅式集團專門在亞洲各地籌辦國際商展，64歲的董事長兼創辦人朱裕倫表示，香港正致力將經濟基礎由貨品製造及再生產，轉向創意、品牌及設計。
In 2009, the government established CreateHK, an office dedicated to developing creative industries, which broadly include advertising, architecture, design, cultural heritage, the performing arts and film.
2009年，香港政府設立「創意香港」辦公室，負責開發各種創意產業，涵蓋廣告、建築、設計、文化遺產、表演藝術與電影。
The office has also worked with the local educational system, from primary schools to colleges, to develop curriculums for teaching film, animation and architecture.
該辦公室還與從小學到大學的當地教育系統合作，開發電影、動畫與建築的教學內容。
The initiatives are starting to pay off. The contribution of the creative industries to the territory's gross domestic product increased to 4.9 percent in 2012 from 3.9 percent in 2007, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department — about 97.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $12.6 billion. The number of people employed in those fields also increased by 20,000 from 2007 to 2012, to 200,370.
這項構想已經開始展現成果。香港政府統計處指出，創意產業占香港GDP的比重已由2007年的3.9%增至2012年的4.9%，總額約978億港幣（約126億美元），雇用的人力則於2007至2012年之間增加2萬人，來到20萬零370人。
The former Police Married Quarters, barracks from the colonial era, were transformed under a conservation plan. The site, now known as PMQ, opened in April and now houses studios for more than 100 entrepreneurs in the creative industries, many of whom are product and fashion designers. It holds workshops on marketing and branding and has received more than 1.5 million visitors since it opened.
建於英國殖民時期的前荷李活道已婚警察宿舍根據一項保存計畫改建。它現在改名為「元創方」，今年4月啟用，已有100多名創意產業的創業家進駐，其中許多人是產品與時裝設計師。它經常舉辦有關行銷與品牌包裝的研討會，開張至今造訪人次已超過150萬。
Executives in creative fields say that although the local talent pool may be deepening, customers' views on creative work can remain stuck in the past.
創意領域的主管們表示，雖然本地人才可能不斷增加，顧客對創意產品的看法卻可能還停留在過去。
The Savannah College of Art and Design, an American university, is joining other efforts to bring credibility to the creative fields in the territory, said Robert Dickensheets, the college's vice president in Hong Kong. It opened its Hong Kong campus in 2010. Enrollment increased to 600 in this year's incoming class from 141 in 2010.
美國薩凡納藝術設計學院香港分校副校長迪根希茲表示，該校正與其他方面合作，試圖為香港的創意領域建立信譽。該校2010年設立香港分校，入學人數已由2010年的141人增至今年的600人。
Lucia Ho, 21, who attended the university, works full time for Peninsula Merchandising Limited, which produces merchandise for the Peninsula hotel chain. She helped design the packaging for the hotel's mooncakes. She noted that of the 13 graphic design majors in the school's first class, 11 had job offers before graduation in June.
半島商品有限公司為半島連鎖酒店生產商品，該校的21歲學生露絲亞．何是其全職員工。她協助設計該酒店的月餅包裝。她說，在該校第一年主修平面造型設計的13名學生中，11人6月畢業前即有工作上門。
As more people like her find work in the nascent creative industries, they will begin to change the general perception of such work in Hong Kong, Mr. Dickensheets said.
迪根希茲說，隨著像她這樣的更多人才在新興的創意產業找到工作，他們將開始改變社會大眾對這種工作的看法。
The long-term goal for Hong Kong, he said, is to create a culture in which "the designer can be valued as much as a banker."
他說，香港的長期目標是，創造一種「設計師受到尊重的程度與銀行家相當」的文化。
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