The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, today (May 7) met with the Director of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), Ms Jiao Hong, at the Central Government Offices. They also signed two co-operation agreements in relation to the regulation of drugs and the Chinese Medicines Herbarium.
 
     Speaking at the signing ceremony, Professor Chan said, "The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) and the NMPA have signed a Co-operation Agreement on Regulation of Drugs and a Co-operation Agreement on Construction, Research and Management of Chinese Medicines Herbarium to enhance communication and co-operation on the regulation of drugs, medical devices and Chinese medicines with a view to safeguarding public health in Hong Kong and the Mainland."
 
     During the meeting, Professor Chan spoke to Ms Jiao on the feasibility of collaboration between the FHB and the NMPA in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. "The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the NMPA jointly promote the development of the Greater Bay Area by signing the Co-operation Agreement on Regulation of Drugs. The Government of the HKSAR looks forward to attracting local and multinational pharmaceutical and biomedical and health technology companies to apply for registration of new pharmaceutical products in Hong Kong and to introduce medical devices to Hong Kong. We encourage these companies to expand their business in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, benefiting patients in need in the two places," she said.
 
     Professor Chan also suggested strengthening exchanges and co-operation on Chinese medicines between Hong Kong and the Mainland at the meeting. She said, "The Government of the HKSAR is actively planning the establishment of the permanent Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute (GCMTI), which includes the setting up of the Chinese Medicines Herbarium to collect Chinese medicinal materials and the specimens of the animals and plants from which they derived. The herbarium will be opened to the public, the trade and international research institutions. The Mainland has long been supporting the development of Chinese medicines in Hong Kong including exchanges in the area of developing standards for Chinese Materia Medica as well as providing human resources and technical support to the GCMTI. With the signing of Co-operation Agreement on Construction, Research and Management of Chinese Medicines Herbarium, Hong Kong and the Mainland will formulate a systematic Chinese Materia Medica specimen collection programme with a view to improving the collection of the Chinese medicines herbarium of the two places."
 
     The Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), Ms Elizabeth Tse, and the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan, also attended the meeting and signing ceremony today.

    

     Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the opening ceremony of HOFEX 2019 – the 18th International Exhibition of Food & Drink, Hotel, Restaurant & Foodservice Equipment, Supplies & Services today (May 7):
 
Mr Duck (Executive Vice President of UBM Asia, Mr Michael Duck), Anthony (Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Mr Anthony Lau), Rebecca (Chairman of the Hong Kong Hotels Association, Ms Rebecca Kwan), Mr Degen (Executive Director of Messe Düsseldorf – Germany, Mr Michael Degen), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

     Good morning.

     It is a pleasure to be here with you, for the grand opening of HOFEX 2019.

     This is the 32nd year since the debut of HOFEX.  And this fair's ever-expanding scale in exhibitors, exhibition space and halls, as well as countries participating, amply demonstrates the growing popularity and international recognition that HOFEX has realised over the years.

     This year, we welcome a wide variety of new exhibitors to the fair from Belgium, British Columbia, Czech, Latvia and Spain. In all, more than 2 800 exhibitors from 74 countries and regions will showcase their fine wine, fine food and hospitality products to some 42 000 buyers from 86 countries and regions. 

     This 18th edition of HOFEX sets another major milestone: it's the biggest in the fair's history.

     Event highlights include the Hong Kong International Culinary Classic, featuring 900 international chefs competing in a sweet, and savoury, range of categories. In the team events, there's butchery skills, high-tea and the gourmet team challenges. Individual chefs compete for the right to call themselves kings of the kitchen in Chinese and Western cuisine, as well as gelato and pastry making.

     HOFEX is scaling fresh heights in the range of its offerings as well. This year's fair once again features ProWine Asia, in cooperation with Messe Düsseldorf. Launched at the 2017 HOFEX with some 200 exhibitors, ProWine this time around counts more than 300 international wine and spirits exhibitors from 27 countries and regions. This reflects Hong Kong's prominent position as both an international exhibition centre and Asia's wine hub.

     In fact, back in 2017, we have imported over 16 million bottles of wine into Hong Kong, although we only managed to consume half of it. The people of Hong Kong, after all, are known worldwide for their passionate pursuit of good life, wining and dining. That's abundantly evident in the extraordinary number of restaurants here, covering the full menu of local, regional and global cuisines at every delectable level, from street food to Michelin-starred.

     Our sophisticated infrastructure, world-class exhibition facilities, high English proficiency and liberal trade policies toward food products are equally compelling reasons for the heady success of HOFEX. In the end, of course, Hong Kong creates the connections that help everyone excel.

     I wish you all, buyers and sellers alike, the best of business over the four fabulous days of HOFEX.

     And I invite you to make time to eat, drink and be merry in Hong Kong, Asia's food and fun city.

     Thank you.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

     Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 7) that due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty, the lifesaving services at Cafeteria New Beach in Tuen Mun District are suspended until further notice.

     First aid services will be maintained at the beach.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting this morning (May 7):
 
Reporter: Mrs Lam, is there anything you possibly can do to resolve the deadlock now, because you have said time and again that you want to improve your relationship with the LegCo and the atmosphere of society. Is it worth it to destroy everything you have built up because of the extradition laws?
 
Chief Executive: If I may put it the other way, improving or enhancing the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature, and between myself and all the members of the Legislative Council, especially the non-pro-establishment members, remains my objective. But that doesn't mean that I will refrain from dealing with contentious issues or I will accommodate the wishes, no matter how unreasonable these wishes are, from the non-pro-establishment members, in order to appease them or establish a good relationship, because my responsibility is to the people of Hong Kong, and of course also to the Central People's Government. As you all know, I have dual accountability, so I am doing things in the overall public interest. But, if there is any desire to sit down and discuss with us that we can have better ways and provisions and arrangements to achieve the dual objectives of this particular legislative amendment, and if my personal intervention does help, then of course as the Chief Executive of Hong Kong I will not turn down that request.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (May 7) unveiled three sets of measures to support and promote Hong Kong's green finance development.  In his opening remarks at the HKMA Green Finance Forum today, the Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Norman Chan, said that the HKMA will collaborate with the industry and other stakeholders to combat climate change risks and develop green finance.
 
     "Climate change is one of the major risks threatening the well-being of mankind.  It must be tackled on a global basis and across different sectors of the economy. How the banking and financial system operates will clearly have an impact on the way in which climate risk is managed or reduced.  The HKMA, in support of the mission to reduce climate change risks and to achieve sustainable finance, will launch three sets of measures," said Mr Chan.
 
     These measures include:
 
(1) Green and Sustainable Banking:
 
i. Phase I – developing a common framework to assess the "Greenness Baseline" of individual banks. The HKMA will also      collaborate with relevant international bodies to provide technical support to banks in Hong Kong to better understand the green principles and methodology in undertaking the baseline assessment;
ii. Phase II – engaging the industry and other relevant stakeholders in a consultation on the supervisory expectation or requirement on Green and Sustainable Banking, with a view to setting tangible deliverables for promoting the green and sustainable developments of the Hong Kong banking industry;
iii. Phase III – after setting the targets, implement, monitor and evaluate banks' progress in this regard.

(2) Responsible Investment: as the manager of the Exchange Fund, the HKMA will adopt a principle that priority can be given to Green and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments if the long term return is comparable to other investments on a risk-adjusted basis.  Specifically, to support Responsible Investment, the HKMA:
 
i. has already incorporated ESG factors in HKMA's credit risk analysis of bond investment;
ii. has required external managers of the Hong Kong equity portfolios to comply with the Principles of Responsible Ownership promulgated by the Securities and Futures Commission in 2016 ;
iii. has invested two tranches of US$1 billion each in the Managed Co-lending Portfolio Programme (MCPP) run by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with a substantial part of the MCPP targeting sustainable investments across emerging market;
iv. will further grow the Exchange Fund's green bond portfolio, through direct investment in green projects or investment in green bond funds;
v. will participate in ESG-themed public equities investments through external managers in passive or active mandates targeting ESG benchmark index;
vi. will accord green accreditation as a predominant factor in investment in our real estate portfolio; and
vii. will consider an appropriate framework for disclosing information on the Exchange Fund's Green and ESG investing efforts without arousing market sensitivity in the process.
 
(3) Centre for Green Finance (CGF): Establish the CGF under the HKMA Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office. It will serve as a platform for technical support and experience sharing for the green development of the Hong Kong banking and finance industry. Meanwhile, the CGF, together with the IFC, will co-organise the next Climate Business Forum in Hong Kong in early 2020. The Forum is the IFC's flagship event to discuss trends and business opportunities relating to climate change and sustainability.
 
     The HKMA Green Finance Forum brought together over 120 representatives from key stakeholders in green finance including banks, asset managers, multilateral development agencies, professional service providers and green associations. The Forum featured panel discussions on policies, practices and prospects of ESG investment; as well as principles and practices relating to green and sustainable banking.