Thousands of people attended the Nations Welcome Ceremony hosted by the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 today (July 19, San Francisco time) at the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, the United States, to kick off the tournament weekend. The ceremony was presented by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco.

     This is the first Rugby World Cup Sevens to be held on American soil and it will be played at San Francisco's AT&T Park starting tomorrow (July 20, San Francisco time).

     Today's ceremony welcomed the 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams from around the world. The competing teams from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, England, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay, the United States, Wales and Zimbabwe all went up on stage alongside a special mural art piece which will be displayed throughout the tournament.

     Speaking at the ceremony were the Chairman of World Rugby, Mr Bill Beaumont; the Chairman of the Board, USA Rugby, Ms Barbara O'Brien; the Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr Eddie Mak; and the President and CEO of San Francisco Travel, Mr Joe D'Alessandro.

     Mr Mak, who assumed the post of Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA in early July, said he was pleased to make his first official visit to San Francisco and greet the rugby players from around the globe.

     "The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco proudly presents today's programme to welcome the competing teams," said Mr Mak. "Rugby is entrenched in Hong Kong's sporting culture. The sevens really got under way in Hong Kong in 1976 with 12 teams playing to 3 000 people. In April, we hosted the three-day Hong Kong Sevens which featured 40 international teams playing to 120 000 enthusiastic fans.

     "Global sports fans are enjoying a feverish summer. Just as the FIFA World Cup concludes we are gearing up for the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Sports fans would be right at home in Hong Kong as we enjoy a full sports calendar every year. Many international sporting events – from marathons and equestrian events to the E-Prix and regattas – take place in Hong Kong. We are fully committed to being the premier sports venue in Asia. We hope you will all come to Hong Kong to join us for some of our sports events."

     Today's ceremony opened with a special performance by a cast member of San Francisco's famous Beach Blanket Babylon musical revue, and concluded with a Cantonese opera act performed by an opera troupe from Hong Kong.
      
     In addition to their stage performance, the Cantonese opera troupe also prepared four costumes for the public to try on in the costume tent. Many took the opportunity to take photos while wearing these colourful costumes.

     Earlier in the week, the Cantonese opera troupe participated in community events leading up to the Rugby World Cup Sevens, including talks and demonstrations of this traditional art form for local youths.

     "We are pleased to bring the Cantonese opera troupe from Hong Kong to participate in the welcome ceremony and cultural exchange activities. This is a great opportunity to showcase this traditional art form to San Francisco Bay Area audiences and youths," the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Mr Ivanhoe Chang, said. Cantonese opera was officially inscribed in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. For those who want to learn more about this cherished art, Mr Chang encouraged them to visit the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong, which is due to open in the brand new West Kowloon Cultural District later this year.

                    

     Thousands of people attended the Nations Welcome Ceremony hosted by the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 today (July 19, San Francisco time) at the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, the United States, to kick off the tournament weekend. The ceremony was presented by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco.

     This is the first Rugby World Cup Sevens to be held on American soil and it will be played at San Francisco's AT&T Park starting tomorrow (July 20, San Francisco time).

     Today's ceremony welcomed the 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams from around the world. The competing teams from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, England, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay, the United States, Wales and Zimbabwe all went up on stage alongside a special mural art piece which will be displayed throughout the tournament.

     Speaking at the ceremony were the Chairman of World Rugby, Mr Bill Beaumont; the Chairman of the Board, USA Rugby, Ms Barbara O'Brien; the Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr Eddie Mak; and the President and CEO of San Francisco Travel, Mr Joe D'Alessandro.

     Mr Mak, who assumed the post of Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA in early July, said he was pleased to make his first official visit to San Francisco and greet the rugby players from around the globe.

     "The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco proudly presents today's programme to welcome the competing teams," said Mr Mak. "Rugby is entrenched in Hong Kong's sporting culture. The sevens really got under way in Hong Kong in 1976 with 12 teams playing to 3 000 people. In April, we hosted the three-day Hong Kong Sevens which featured 40 international teams playing to 120 000 enthusiastic fans.

     "Global sports fans are enjoying a feverish summer. Just as the FIFA World Cup concludes we are gearing up for the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Sports fans would be right at home in Hong Kong as we enjoy a full sports calendar every year. Many international sporting events – from marathons and equestrian events to the E-Prix and regattas – take place in Hong Kong. We are fully committed to being the premier sports venue in Asia. We hope you will all come to Hong Kong to join us for some of our sports events."

     Today's ceremony opened with a special performance by a cast member of San Francisco's famous Beach Blanket Babylon musical revue, and concluded with a Cantonese opera act performed by an opera troupe from Hong Kong.
      
     In addition to their stage performance, the Cantonese opera troupe also prepared four costumes for the public to try on in the costume tent. Many took the opportunity to take photos while wearing these colourful costumes.

     Earlier in the week, the Cantonese opera troupe participated in community events leading up to the Rugby World Cup Sevens, including talks and demonstrations of this traditional art form for local youths.

     "We are pleased to bring the Cantonese opera troupe from Hong Kong to participate in the welcome ceremony and cultural exchange activities. This is a great opportunity to showcase this traditional art form to San Francisco Bay Area audiences and youths," the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, Mr Ivanhoe Chang, said. Cantonese opera was officially inscribed in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. For those who want to learn more about this cherished art, Mr Chang encouraged them to visit the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong, which is due to open in the brand new West Kowloon Cultural District later this year.

                    

     The Trade and Industry Department (TID) will roll out enhancement measures on the SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) and the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) on August 1.
 
     The ASEAN Programme under the BUD Fund will be launched on that day to provide funding support to individual non-listed Hong Kong enterprises for enhancing their competitiveness and furthering business development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market. Enterprises can obtain a maximum funding of $1 million on a matching basis for projects aiming to develop the ASEAN markets. In addition, the cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise for the current EMF and the Mainland Programme under the BUD Fund will be doubled. Details of the various enhancement measures are in the Appendix.
 
     "The Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development plan will bring about tremendous business opportunities for Hong Kong enterprises. With the shifting of the global economic centre to Asia and developing economies, the Free Trade Agreement concluded in November 2017 will also help Hong Kong enterprises tap these fast-growing markets," a spokesperson for the TID said.
 
     "The enhancements to be introduced will provide enterprises, in particular SMEs, with a wider funding scope, a higher grant ceiling and more streamlined application requirements and vetting mechanisms for exploring new markets and new business opportunities, and for responding to changes in the business environment and their operational needs," he said.
 
     The guides and application forms of the above funding schemes applicable after enhancement have been uploaded to the websites of the EMF (www.smefund.tid.gov.hk/eindex.html) and the BUD Fund (www.bud.hkpc.org/en).
 
     For enquiries, please contact the EMF Section (Tel: 2398 5127) and the BUD Fund Secretariat (Tel: 2788 6088).

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 20) that due to big waves, red flag has been hoisted at Silverstrand Beach in Sai Kung District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (July 20) that with effect from noon on July 24, the import of vegetables, fruits, milk, milk beverages and dried milk from four Japanese prefectures, namely Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma, into Hong Kong are permitted with conditions while the import ban on the abovementioned products from Fukushima will remain in force. The relevant Food Safety Order issued by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (DFEH) was published in the Gazette today.

     According to the Order, each consignment of vegetables, fruits, milk, milk beverages and dried milk from the four prefectures must be accompanied with radiation certificates issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan which will show the prefecture that the products come from and attest that the radiation levels of the products do not exceed the guideline levels of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). The exporter concerned must also hold and produce a valid exporter certificate issued by the MAFF to certify that those food products exported to Hong Kong are readily available for sale in Japan (i.e. the radiation levels of the food products comply with the Japanese levels which are more stringent than the Codex guideline levels) and are fit for human consumption as far as radiological protection is concerned.

     A CFS spokesman said, "Ensuring food safety is the Government's prime consideration. Since March 24, 2011, the CFS has tested more than 490 000 samples of food products imported from Japan. The test results showed that none of the samples had radiation levels exceeding the Codex guideline levels. The Japanese authorities collected over 2 million food samples for radiation testing, with the vast majority complying with the Codex guideline levels. No samples of food products imported from Japan were detected to have any radiation levels by the CFS since September 2016.

     "Moreover, international expert organisations have already confirmed the safety of Japanese food in terms of radiation levels, and more and more economies have lifted their import bans or restrictions on Japanese food totally or partially, with or without conditions."

     The spokesman added that the measures listed in the Order are similar to the existing import requirements on game, meat, poultry, poultry eggs and aquatic products from the four prefectures, and are buttressed by the exporter certificate as an additional safeguard. The CFS will also continue to conduct radiation tests on every consignment of food products imported from Japan, and strengthen inspection and radiation testing on vegetables, fruits and milk products from the four prefectures.

     "By adopting two levels of gatekeeping, i.e. the Japanese Government's gatekeeping work at the places of export and the CFS' gatekeeping work at the import level, we can continue to safeguard food safety effectively. The CFS will enhance communication with the MAFF in respect of information and intelligence exchange, and maintain close communication with the trade on the related arrangements to ensure smooth operation," he stressed.

     The CFS will continue to update the latest figures and test results on food products imported from Japan on its website (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/japan_nuclear_incidents.html) every working day for public inspection.

     The DFEH issued an order on March 24, 2011, to prohibit the import of all vegetables, fruits, milk, milk beverages and dried milk from five Japanese prefectures, namely Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma. All chilled or frozen game, meat and poultry and poultry eggs and all live, chilled or frozen aquatic products from the five prefectures must be accompanied by a certificate issued by the competent authority of Japan certifying that their radiation levels do not exceed the Codex guideline levels before they are imported to Hong Kong. Otherwise, the food products will be prohibited from import to Hong Kong.