The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results:
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant's tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level.
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     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning August 7, 2023:
 

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 is 104.2 (up 0.3 against yesterday's index).

     A new round of the Administrative Service Summer Internship Programme began in mid-May this year. The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, met and interacted with more than 50 university students participating in the programme today (August 1), encouraging them to apply for civil service positions such as the Administrative Officer (AO) post, for charting a brighter tomorrow for Hong Kong.
 
     During the gathering, Mrs Yeung listened to the interns share their experiences and achievements during the internship period, and encouraged them to strive to equip themselves to serve the community and contribute to the country, making reference to her own experience of over 30 years in the public service. Mrs Yeung said, "We are in great need of talent who love our country and Hong Kong, who dare to be innovative, who are willing to rise to challenges and who are dedicated to serving the public, to support the Government in its governance and to promote the development of Hong Kong at full speed on all fronts. This internship programme enables young people in Hong Kong to gain hands-on experience of working with serving AOs and learn about the operation of the Government and the mission and role of an AO, thus facilitating their future career planning. In fact, in the past five years, one in six newly recruited AOs has participated in the programme.
 
     "The Government will be recruiting a new batch of AO, Executive Officer II, Assistant Labour Officer II, Assistant Trade Officer II, Management Services Officer II and Transport Officer II in September. We have earlier announced a new initiative to allow all students who are pursuing a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification and graduating in 2024 or 2025 to apply for the above six grades. Recommended candidates will be granted a conditional offer and will join the Government upon graduation to work together to build a better Hong Kong. I encourage all students to proactively consider joining the civil service, especially the AOs, to make good use of your knowledge, talent and enthusiasm to contribute to the community."
 
     The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) organises the Administrative Service Internship Programme every winter and summer. The CSB received around 270 applications for the summer programme this year, and among them selected 66 students studying in local, Mainland or overseas tertiary institutions as interns. They were assigned to some 20 bureaux and departments to handle duties comparable to those of an AO.
 
     AOs are professional public administrators who play a pivotal role in the civil service system. They are responsible for a diversified range of work including the policy formulation and implementation and resource allocation, co-ordination and promotion of district work, as well as the external promotion of Hong Kong. They are posted to different bureaux and departments at regular intervals with opportunities to sharpen their skills, accumulate experience and broaden their horizons in different areas of public policy work. The Government will separately announce details of the new round of the AO Recruitment Exercise in September 2023.

      

     The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, today (August 1) met with representatives of the Guangdong Youth Federation and youth federations in other municipalities to share views on enhancing youth development and exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong. The Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung, also joined the meeting.
 
     Miss Mak welcomed the delegation led by the person-in-charge of the Guangdong Youth Federation, Ms He Lulu. She said that Guangdong and Hong Kong are inextricably linked, and that the Guangdong Youth Federation is an important partner of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) which has all along supported Hong Kong's youth work in many aspects. With the full resumption of travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland early this year, the HYAB and the Guangdong Youth Federation have restarted the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Internship Programme at Palace Museum and the Youth Internship Programme at Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan. The programmes facilitate youth exchanges in the two places and provide Hong Kong youths with diversified, unique and in-depth thematic internship opportunities, which further enhance their knowledge of the country and encourage them to integrate into the overall development of the country. In addition, the Guangdong Youth Federation has also assisted the HYAB in organising study tours in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong youths.

     The HYAB promulgated the Youth Development Blueprint at the end of last year, which states that the breadth and depth of the Mainland and international internship and exchange programmes will be further strengthened, and that the development opportunities for Hong Kong youths in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will be expanded. Miss Mak looks forward to strengthening co-operation with the Guangdong Youth Federation and youth federations of municipalities so as to jointly promote youth development and exchanges in the two places.

    

     The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) announced today (August 1) that the first "iAM Smart" registration service counter in Guangzhou has been set up to provide Hong Kong citizens working and living on the Mainland with convenience, allowing them to register for or upgrade to "iAM Smart+" without the need to return to Hong Kong. Users can access over 280 online services from both public and private organisations easily anytime, anywhere.

     Starting from today, Hong Kong identity card holders can visit the "iAM Smart" registration service counter located on the second floor of the Guangzhou Municipal Government Service Center, Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou, during service hours to register for or upgrade to "iAM Smart+". The service counter operates from Monday to Friday, 9am to noon and 1pm to 5pm (except public holidays). For details and registration requirements, please visit the "iAM Smart" thematic website at www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/reg.html.

     A spokesman for the OGCIO expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Government Services and Data Management Bureau (GSDMB) of Guangdong Province for its strong support and said the OGCIO will continue to work with the GSDMB of Guangdong Province to work on the setting up of "iAM Smart" self-registration kiosks at more locations in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with a view to promoting cross-boundary public services in the region.

     Since its launch in late 2020, "iAM Smart", a one-stop personalised digital service platform, has more than 2.17 million registrations. Users can authenticate with a single digital identity using their personal mobile phones and access various online services. Popular online services include the Consumption Voucher Scheme, Centralised Organ Donation Register, MyGovHK portal, eTax, Contactless e-Channel, renewal of vehicle licence, eHealth and the two electricity and the gas companies.

     The "iAM Smart" mobile app supports iOS and Android mobile phones enabled with biometric authentication. Members of the public can download and use the app for free from Apple App Store, Huawei AppGallery, Google Play or by visiting the "iAM Smart" thematic website at www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/download.html.