The latest test results of an opening-up investigation in the second stage of the holistic assessment strategy for the Hung Hom Station Extension under the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) project (as at December 31) are now available at the Highways Department's website for the SCL project (www.hyd.gov.hk/en/road_and_railway/railway_projects/scl/index.html) for reference by the public.

     According to the report "Hong Kong Innovation Activities Statistics 2017" released today (December 31) by the Census and Statistics Department, the gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) of Hong Kong in 2017 amounted to $21.28 billion, representing an increase of 8 per cent compared with 2016. The GERD as a ratio to the Gross Domestic Product in 2017 was 0.8 per cent. 
 
     A government spokesman said, "Innovation and technology (I&T) is a priority policy area of the current-term Government. Since the establishment of the Innovation and Technology Bureau in 2015, significant resources have been devoted to strengthening Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem and stimulating research and development (R&D) activities."
 
     The spokesman said that a number of new initiatives were introduced last year to promote I&T development, such as providing enhanced tax deduction of up to 300 per cent for R&D expenditure incurred by enterprises, and injecting $10 billion into the Innovation and Technology Fund to support more R&D work by universities, public research institutes and private enterprises. In addition, $10 billion has been allocated for setting up two research clusters at the Hong Kong Science Park to attract top local, Mainland and overseas R&D institutions to conduct more collaborative research in Hong Kong. A total of $10.3 billion has also been allocated to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and the Hong Kong Cyberport Development Holdings Limited to enhance their incubation programmes and support for technology enterprises. These measures will induce further investment in R&D.
 
     "The Steering Committee on Innovation and Technology, chaired by the Chief Executive, will continue to closely monitor the progress of the above measures. We expect the effect of these measures to increasingly come through in subsequent years, contributing to further increase in the level of GERD," the spokesman said.

     The Government announced today (December 31) its financial results for the eight months ended November 30, 2018.

     There was a surplus of HK$18.2 billion in the month of November, thereby bringing the cumulative year-to-date deficit down to HK$27.8 billion. Expenditure for the eight-month period amounted to HK$336 billion and revenue HK$308.2 billion.

     A government spokesperson said that the improved financial results in November were mainly due to the collection of profits tax. The revised estimates for the current financial year will be published along with the 2019-20 Budget on February 27, 2019.

     The fiscal reserves stood at HK$1,075.1 billion as at November 30, 2018.

     Detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
 
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
 

Government Debts as at November 30, 2018 (Note 3)
    HK$1,500 million
Debts Guaranteed by Government as at November 30, 2018 (Note 4)
    HK$23,847.1 million

TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
 

Notes:

1. This Account consolidates the General Revenue Account and the following eight Funds: Capital Works Reserve Fund, Capital Investment Fund, Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund, Disaster Relief Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Land Fund, Loan Fund and Lotteries Fund. It excludes the Bond Fund, the balance of which is not part of the fiscal reserves. The Bond Fund balance as at November 30, 2018, was HK$141,118 million.

2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.

3. These were the outstanding institutional notes as at November 30, 2018, which were denominated in Hong Kong dollars with maturity in July 2019. They do not include the outstanding bonds with nominal value of HK$102,881 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$3,000 million (equivalent to HK$23,466 million as at November 30, 2018) issued under the Government Bond Programme (with proceeds credited to the Bond Fund). Of these bonds under the Government Bond Programme (including Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$5,781 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$26,071 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$1,000 million (equivalent to HK$7,822 million as at November 30, 2018) will mature within the period from December 2018 to November 2019 and the rest within the period from December 2019 to March 2032.

4. Includes guarantees provided under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2001, the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2008, the Special Concessionary Measures under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme launched in 2012, and a commercial loan of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

5. Includes HK$219,730 million being the balance of the Land Fund held in the name of "Future Fund" as from January 1, 2016, for long-term investments initially up to December 31, 2025. As from July 1, 2016, the Future Fund also includes HK$4,800 million, being one-third of the actual surplus in 2015-16 as top-up.

     The Prosecutions Division of the Department of Justice today (December 31) released its annual report, "Prosecutions Hong Kong 2017", which reviews the division's work and important cases last year.

     In his letter presenting the report to the Secretary for Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr David Leung, SC, highlighted one of the most important guiding principles for the division's prosecutors: "As ministers of justice, we are dedicated to upholding the rule of law by conducting criminal prosecutions free from any interference. The responsibilities that we take up are heavy, the challenges and criticisms that we face are immense, but we have and shall continue to uphold the rule of law with professionalism, independence, and transparency."

     In the Director's Overview, Mr Leung made clear his goal to enable prosecutors in the division to gain more exposure in court work and to enhance their advocacy skills.  He also further elaborated on the key challenges for the division in 2017. For cases related to the Occupy Central Movement and incidents in Mong Kok involving violence in February 2016, as in any other case, "prosecutors…considered the decision of whether to prosecute and if so, the appropriate charge(s) purely on the available evidence and the principles set out in the Prosecution Code – nothing else," Mr Leung said.  In respect of the review of sentences cases, he reiterated that "prosecutors only conduct review of sentences in the rarest of cases."

     As to the continuing verbal abuses of prosecutors, Mr Leung emphasised that "while prosecutors are not immune from criticisms, they and their family members should not become victims of such unwarranted abuses.  Prosecutors conduct criminal prosecutions not because of their personal interests. They do so on behalf of the public as ministers of justice…." And noting attacks on the presiding judges when the outcome of the cases with a political background do not tally with their expectation, Mr Leung stressed that "the public should have confidence in the judicial system and judicial officers of Hong Kong and refrain from lodging baseless attacks on judges."

     Apart from the key challenges, Mr Leung also set out in the Director's Overview the important achievements made in 2017. Firstly, various measures were taken to strengthen the prosecution services at the magistracy level. Secondly, in May 2017, the Department of Justice organised the Criminal Law Conference in partnership with the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Law Society of Hong Kong. Thirdly, the division continued to actively reach out to its partners and the community by organising events such as the Prosecution Week and the "Meet the Community" Programme.

     Apart from a detailed account of the main activities of and key cases handled by the different sub-divisions and units of the Prosecutions Division, this latest review also provides information on various trainings as well as conferences, both locally and internationally, in which prosecutors participated during the year.

     The review also contains two feature articles – one on "Anguish and Joy as DPP" and the other on "Surviving Practice as a Criminal Lawyer". For the former, Mr Keith Yeung, SC, shared his thoughts and feelings during his term as the Director of Public Prosecutions. For the latter, Mr Jonathan Caplan, QC, sets out his various reflections on his practice as a barrister over the last 25 years in both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

     "Prosecutions Hong Kong 2017" is available at the website of the Department of Justice (www.doj.gov.hk/eng/public/yrreviewpd2017.html).

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
 
     The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (December 31) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2018/19 (Eighth Round). Three proposals were awarded a total of more than $248 million. The list of awarded projects is set out in the Annex.
 
     Announcing the results, the Chairman of the RGC, Professor Benjamin Wah, said, "I am pleased to announce that, after a vigorous peer-review process, three outstanding projects have been selected for funding in this round of the AoE Scheme exercise. The project teams of the three selected projects demonstrated strong potential to build upon their existing strengths to achieve excellence in the areas of metabolic medicine, slope safety and fundamental structure of matter. I am confident that these projects will create lasting impact and put Hong Kong on the world map."
 
     Professor Wah added, "I would like to express our gratitude to the local research community for their continued support, as well as the RGC panel members and international experts for their invaluable contributions to the Scheme."
 
Background of the AoE Scheme
———————————–
 
     The AoE Scheme was launched in 1998. The objective of the Scheme is to support the University Grants Committee-funded universities to build upon their existing strengths and develop them into areas of excellence. A total of 21 AoE projects from various disciplines have been funded in the past seven rounds of the exercise.
 
     Details of the approved projects are posted on the RGC website (www.ugc.edu.hk).