Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, today (July 3) led a delegation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) to attend the “Symposium on Water Technology, Climate Change and Sustainable Development cum The 9th China-Sri Lanka Joint Workshop on Climate Change and Marine Sustainable Development” under the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative in Sri Lanka.
      
     The Symposium, organised by the China-Sri Lanka Joint Research and Demonstration Centre for Water Technology (JRDC), was held in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on July 2 and 3. Its objective was to promote co-operation with Sri Lanka and other B&R countries in various areas, including combating climate change, marine disaster mitigation, resource management and sustainable development. At the same time, the HKSARG delegation conducted in-depth exchanges with the participating parties to promote high-quality green development under the B&R Initiative. The Symposium was attended by the Sri Lankan Government, a number of national research organisations and some tertiary institutions, including the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka, the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the CAS, as well as representatives of organisations and tertiary institutions from China, the United States, Canada, Pakistan and more.
      
     Dr Chui delivered a keynote speech at the Symposium, introducing Hong Kong’s water quality management strategies, covering pollution control at source, water quality monitoring, modelling and assessment, as well as the Triple Water System (including seawater for toilet flushing and air conditioning, as well as recycling and reuse of grey water). To facilitate scientific research and academic applications by the local government and tertiary institutions, Dr Samuel Chui, on behalf of the HKSARG, donated to the Sri Lanka side two sets of computer software, including an intelligent air quality simulation platform developed by the Environmental Protection Department’s air science experts specifically for Sri Lanka, and “VISJET” – for simulation and visualisation of marine discharges developed by the University of Hong Kong research team led by Honorary Professor Joseph Lee, the current President of the Macau University of Science and Technology.
      
     “The EPD will continue to actively engage partners in the B&R region to leverage Hong Kong’s experience and advantages in environmental protection to help them in achieving green and sustainable development,” Dr Chui said.
      
     The HKSARG delegation, comprising representatives from the EPD, the Water Supplies Department, the Drainage Services Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, attended the Water Technology Exchange Forum yesterday (July 2) and had in-depth exchanges with officials from government agencies such as the Central Environment Authority and the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage of Sri Lanka, sharing Hong Kong’s successful experience in water resources management, application of smart-technologies and modelling in water quality management, sewage collection and treatment technology and infrastructure planning, modern aquaculture technologies and bioremediation of polluted sediments. Representatives from the EPD also shared their experience in bacteriological water quality monitoring for bathing beaches, and provided demonstration training to Sri Lankan technicians on water sample collection, testing and data analysis.
      
     Dr Chui will visit Kandy tomorrow (July 4) to deliver an opening address at the International Symposium on “Improving Air Quality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Monitoring, Modelling and Pollution Control” organised by the JRDC. Representatives from the EPD will also share Hong Kong’s successful experience in applying innovation and technology to enhance air quality management.
      
     Dr Chui said that the visit by the HKSARG delegation and the in-depth technical exchanges with experts, scholars and industry stakeholders from Sri Lanka manifested the concrete implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on professional staff development signed between the EPD and the Central Environment Authority of Sri Lanka last September. It is conducive to further deepening the partnership established between the two sides to jointly take forward high-quality green development under the B&R Initiative, achieving the goals of environmental protection and sustainable development.

                

     The Government welcomed the passage of the Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2024 by the Legislative Council (LegCo) today (July 3) to implement various measures to enhance the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS), including:

• raising the protection limit from the current $500,000 to $800,000;
• refining the levy system to enable the DPS Fund underpinning the Scheme to reach the target fund size within a reasonable timeframe under the increased protection limit;
• providing enhanced coverage to affected depositors upon a bank merger or acquisition; 
• requiring the display of the DPS membership sign on the electronic banking platforms of DPS members; and
• streamlining the negative disclosure requirement on non-protected deposit transactions for private banking customers.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “The Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (the Amendment Ordinance) can help further strengthen the function of the DPS in the financial safety net, enhance depositors’ confidence and raise the resilience of the banking sector and the overall stability of the financial system, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.”

     The Chairman of the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board, Ms Connie Lau, said, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the LegCo for the passage of the Amendment Ordinance, which marks a key milestone in the development of the DPS. The enhancements will not only ensure the DPS is in line with international standards, but will also provide better protection for depositors and further contribute to the stability of the banking system in Hong Kong. We look forward to working closely with the banking industry to implement the enhancement measures as scheduled, and will launch a series of promotional campaigns to raise the public awareness of the enhanced DPS.”

     The Amendment Ordinance will be gazetted on July 12 and will be implemented in two phases. The first phase, which comes into effect on October 1, 2024, will cover measures requiring a shorter period of preparatory work, such as the enhancement of protection limit to $800,000. The second phase, which covers other measures, will be implemented on January 1, 2025. read more

     â€‹Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Heilongjiang Provincial Government and Harbin Municipal People’s Government cohosted a seminar in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, today (July 3), encouraging local enterprises to make use of Hong Kong’s business advantages and opportunities amid the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development to expand overseas.

     Entitled Hong Kong-Heilongjiang Co-operation: Leveraging Hong Kong for Overseas Business Opportunities, the seminar was co-organised by InvestHK, the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government (LOCPG) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Department of Commerce of Heilongjiang Province, and the Harbin Municipal People’s Government.

     The seminar began with welcoming remarks by the Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, Dr Jimmy Chiang, followed by Second-level Inspector from the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR Mr Yan Yongqing; Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce of Heilongjiang Province Mr Tan Yinghui and Deputy Secretary-General of Harbin Municipal People’s Government Mr Yin Chengyun.

     Dr Chiang said, “Heilongjiang and Hong Kong have a long-standing relationship. Hong Kong has been Heilongjiang’s largest source of foreign investment. Under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, Hong Kong has reinforced its traditional strengths including its financial centre status, and has been moving full steam ahead to develop into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre to better integrate into the overall development of the country. The Policy Address delivered by the Chief Executive emphasises the importance of I&T, and provides more support to I&T industries including artificial intelligence, biomedical technology, new energy, new materials, and advanced manufacturing. The Hong Kong Government earlier promulgated the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint to promote the synergistic development of scientific research, encourage the transformation of outcomes, promote the new industrialisation, and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces.” He said he hoped that InvestHK’s services and promotions can offer Mainland enterprises a better understanding of Hong Kong’s unique advantages and opportunities, so that they can leverage the city’s role as a bridge between the Mainland and the world.

     Delivering his remarks, Mr Yan said, “In recent years, Heilongjiang Province has demonstrated its confidence, determination and uniqueness in opening up to the outside world through high-quality development. This year, Harbin has been added into the Individual Visit Scheme, and the direct flights between Harbin to Hong Kong have just been opened. I believe all these favourable policies and measures will deepen the economic, trade, tourism, and cultural exchanges between Heilongjiang Province and Hong Kong, resulting in closer co-operation between the two places. I hope that Heilongjiang enterprises will make full use of Hong Kong’s sophisticated financial market, advanced professional services and positive business environment to accelerate the pace of ‘going global’. As the representative of the Ministry of Commerce in Hong Kong responsible for the economic and trade co-operation between the two places, the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR is willing to provide support and services for all Mainland enterprises, including Heilongjiang enterprises, to invest in Hong Kong and expand to overseas markets via the city.”

     Mr Tan added, “Heilongjiang Province is actively opening up to the north and accelerating its pace of opening up to the world. Hong Kong and Heilongjiang highly complement each other in terms of resources, economic structure and development. I hope that enterprises from the two places can leverage Hong Kong’s advantages to strengthen economic and trade exchanges and co-operation, and explore further development opportunities.”

     Mr Yin said, “We are co-ordinating the construction of various trade and investment distribution means and platforms in Harbin to accelerate the pace of opening up to the world comprehensively, and enhance the co-operation and exchange between Harbin and Hong Kong to better promote the investment co-operation between the two cities.”

     The Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of InvestHK in Beijing, Mr Andy Wu, introduced Hong Kong’s business environment and the diverse services InvestHK offers to Mainland clients in his keynote speech. The Principal Immigration Officer of the Office of the Government of the HKSAR in Beijing, Mr Jacky Wong, also provided a briefing on Hong Kong’s latest immigration schemes and services for Mainland residents.

     Other speakers included the Chief Representative of the Beijing Representative Office of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Ms Xu Chunmeng, as well as Partner, Audit and Assurance, Capital Market Services Group, Deloitte China Mr Raymond Ng. They shared the latest developments and opportunities of the Hong Kong capital market at the seminar.
           
     For photos of the seminar, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720318436155.

                  

     The Chairman of the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board (HKMPB) and the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, led a delegation comprising the HKMPB, the Marine Department, Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to visit Tokyo, Japan, to promote Hong Kong’s maritime and port industry, in particular its strength in high value-added maritime services.

     The delegation visited a number of maritime enterprises including major shipping liners and trading houses today (July 3). They also paid a courtesy call on the State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Mr Kokuba Konosuke, to introduce Hong Kong’s latest maritime developments and explore business opportunities for further co-operation with the Japanese maritime community.

     During a business dinner held tonight with the Japanese Shipowners’ Association, Mr Lam gave a brief outline on Hong Kong’s advantages as an international maritime centre. He said, “Hong Kong is positioned as the ‘super connector’ between Mainland China and the global markets. We are home to a vibrant maritime cluster with over 1 100 port and maritime-related companies and provide a great variety of quality maritime services. We also provide a series of tax concession measures for the maritime industry, and have lately introduced a green initiative to provide incentives for Hong Kong-registered ships that attain high ratings under the international standards on decarbonisation formulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), making Hong Kong a pioneer flag administration supporting the IMO’s green shipping policy on the Carbon Intensity Indicator.”

     “Both Japan and Hong Kong are the world’s leading maritime centres playing important roles in the sea trade routes in the Asia-Pacific region. I am confident that our two economies can work closer to achieve mutual benefits and prosperity in the years ahead,” he added.

     The delegation started a four-day visit to Tokyo yesterday (July 2) and they will continue to meet other maritime enterprises and organisations during the visit.

          

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, after the passage of the Social Workers Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024 by the Legislative Council this afternoon (July 3): Reporter… read more