The Lands Department announced today (December 16) that in respect of the tender for the site New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6554 at Kai Tak Area 4A Site 2, Kai Tak, Kowloon, which was awarded on November 13 to the successful tenderer, Ultra Keen Holdings Limited (parent companies: China Overseas Land & Investment Limited, Henderson Land Development Company Limited, K. Wah International Holdings Limited and Wharf Development Limited), on a 50-year land grant at a premium of $15,952,900,000, the tender amounts submitted by the unsuccessful tenderers in descending order are published on an anonymous basis as follows:

(1) $15,117,000,000
(2) $10,118,111,112
(3) $10,100,000,000
     
     The information disclosed in this press release is for information only.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Airstar Bank Limited on fraudulent website, which has been reported to the HKMA.
 
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the website concerned or has conducted any financial transactions through the website should contact the bank concerned, and report to the Police or contact the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

     The Census and Statistics Department has commenced a new round of the Quarterly Survey of Employment and Vacancies to collect data on employment and vacancies in major industry sections of the economy in respect of December 2019. This survey is conducted quarterly. The survey results are useful in serving as short-term economic indicators and providing information on the latest changes in the labour market.

     This round of the survey covers about 29 000 establishments which are drawn from various industry sections including industrial sections (such as mining and quarrying; manufacturing; and electricity, gas and waste management) and the services sections (such as import/export, wholesale and retail trades; accommodation and food services; transportation, storage, postal and courier services; information and communications; financing and insurance; real estate; professional and business services; and social and personal services). Information on the number of persons engaged and vacancies, together with the characteristics of job vacancies, as at December 31, 2019, will be sought from each selected establishment.

     Questionnaires are being sent by mail or by fax to selected establishments. In accordance with the Census and Statistics Ordinance, these establishments are required to complete and return the questionnaires to the department within the specified period. If individual establishments have any difficulties in completing the questionnaires, they may contact the department for assistance at 2234 3800.

     â€‹The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairman of the Youth Development Commission (YDC), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, chaired the fifth meeting of the Youth Development Commission today (December 16). At the meeting, members were briefed on the new measures related to and the latest progress of the Youth Hostel Scheme (YHS). Members also discussed the new measures related to youth development and enhancing the work of the YDC in the 2019 Policy Address.
      
     Members noted the new measures related to the YHS in the 2019 Policy Address. They welcomed the initiatives to allow youth hostel tenants to submit or retain their applications for public rental housing and to roll out a new seventh project under the YHS. Moreover, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) responsible for the first YHS project in Hong Kong, namely the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), also briefed the YDC on the latest progress of the Tai Po youth hostel PH2, as well as its vision, application details and services to be provided to tenants in the future. Members expressed appreciation for the HKFYG's planning of the Tai Po youth hostel and offered suggestions on the future operation and services of the hostel for the HKFYG's consideration. 
      
     Mr Cheung thanked the HKFYG for its efforts devoted to taking forward the project, and pointed out that the community has much anticipation for the completion of the first-ever YHS project. He said he was confident that under the HKFYG's operation and management, the Tai Po youth hostel PH2 will be able to provide working youths in Hong Kong with independent living space at affordable rent and ancillary services to support their personal development. The HKFYG announced details of the Tai Po youth hostel PH2 in the afternoon today and officially invited applications from young people for admission. 
      
     The 2019 Policy Address announced enhancing the operation of the YDC, so that it could participate, at an earlier stage and in a more concrete manner, in policy discussion relating to education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as young people's participation in politics, public policy discussion and debate, and communicate with young people in a more open, direct and interactive manner. After in-depth discussion, the YDC agreed to roll out a new measure. Starting from the first quarter of 2020, the YDC will arrange policy thematic meetings to enable relevant policy bureaux, members and young people to be engaged in focused discussion on specific policy issues, particularly those that are related to education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as young people's participation in politics, public policy discussion and debate. To enhance transparency and enable more young people to understand the work of the YDC and various bureaux, live online broadcast will be arranged and a certain quota will be reserved for online open application by young people to participate in the policy thematic meetings. Depending on the effectiveness of the relevant measures, the Government will, in collaboration with the YDC, continue to formulate other suitable enhancement measures to strengthen the role of the YDC in policy co-ordination and reflecting young people's views.
      
     In addition, members took note of the new youth development measures in the areas of education, housing, employment and entrepreneurship, as well as broadening young people's horizons, as promulgated in the 2019 Policy Address, and provided various comments on the implementation details.
      
     The Task Forces under the YDC have made considerable progress in their work. A range of enhancement measures have been implemented for the three funding schemes for internship and exchange. The Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland and the Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland have received around 190 and 370 applications respectively. Relevant assessment work is now under way. Meanwhile, the new round of application for the Funding Scheme for International Youth Exchange will be launched this month. The two new funding schemes under the Youth Development Fund were met with enthusiasm and received applications from more than 40 NGOs in total. Assessment has entered the final stage and the Secretariat will announce the assessment results shortly. Moreover, the YDC has allocated additional resources to enhance the Funding Scheme for Youth Life Planning Activities. NGOs sponsored by the scheme have commenced their services in the 2019/20 school year, covering more than 360 secondary schools throughout the territory.
      
     Since the establishment of the YDC in April last year, the YDC and its three Task Forces have arranged more than 100 meetings and youth exchange sessions in total. Relevant information of the past meetings and activities has been uploaded to the YDC's website so that the public can better understand the work of the YDC.

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (December 16) the December 2019 issue of the "Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics" (HKMDS).

     Apart from providing up-to-date statistics, this issue also contains three feature articles entitled "Salary Statistics of Middle-level Managerial and Professional Employees, 2009 to 2019", "The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy" and "Analysis of Hong Kong's External Merchandise Trade by Industry".

"Salary Statistics of Middle-level Managerial and Professional Employees, 2009 to 2019"

     This feature article describes the movements of the salaries of middle-level managerial and professional employees in selected industry sections during the period from 2009 to 2019. Up-to-date statistics on the entitlement of such employees to various types of fringe benefits are also presented.

     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section, C&SD (Tel: 2887 5230; email: mpes@censtatd.gov.hk).

"The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy"

     The Government has been actively pursuing economic development in order to keep up the competitive advantage of Hong Kong. The traditional Four Key Industries in Hong Kong, namely financial services, tourism, trading and logistics, and professional and producer services, have been the driving force of Hong Kong's economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment.

     This feature article analyses the economic contribution and employment situation in respect of the Four Key Industries in 2018.  Taken together, the share of the total value added of the Four Key Industries in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 57.3%, while the percentage share of total employment was 46.3%. Compared with 2017, the value added of financial services industry recorded the highest growth rate (+10.9%), or 19.7% of GDP. The industry also employed 263 000 persons in 2018, or 6.8% of total employment.

     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the National Income Branch, C&SD (Tel :3903 7002; email: gdp-p@censtatd.gov.hk).

"Analysis of Hong Kong's External Merchandise Trade by Industry"

     The C&SD has recently compiled a set of statistics on trade by industry of importers/exporters in order to provide insights into the external merchandise trading activities of individual industries.

     In 2018, "import/export and wholesale trades" and "transportation, storage, postal and courier services" were the two major industries, together contributing about 88% of the total trade value. On the export side, the contribution of small and medium sized enterprises in these two industries was 67% and 50% of their respective exports.

     This feature article also presents further analyses of imports and exports of major industries by major trading partner and major commodity group.

     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Trade Analysis Section, C&SD (Tel: 2582 4914; email: trade@censtatd.gov.hk).

     Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 140 tables. It collects up-to-date statistical series on various aspects of the social and economic situation of Hong Kong. Topics include population; labour; external trade; National Income and Balance of Payments; prices; business performance; energy; housing and property; government accounts, finance and insurance; and transport, communications and tourism. For selected key statistical items, over 20 charts depicting the annual trend in the past decade and quarterly or monthly trend in the recent two years are also available. Users can download the Digest free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp460.jsp?productCode=B1010002).

     Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Dissemination Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk).