Police today (February 1) laid a holding charge against a 33-year-old man with one count of manslaughter and one count of common assault. The 33-year-old man and another 58-year-old man were arrested… read more
The Lands Department (LandsD) issued today (February 1) Practice Note No. 1/2024 inviting in-situ land exchange applications for designated development sites within the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (HSK/HT NDA). The Practice Note is available on the department’s website (www.landsd.gov.hk), which provides the location of sites available for in-situ land exchange applications, application criteria and conditions, application deadlines, etc.
In accordance with the in-situ land exchange arrangements for the Enhanced Conventional New Town Approach (ECNTA) as revised and promulgated in end last year (please refer to Practice Note No. 13/2023), the scope for land exchange applications this time covers some of the sites planned for private residential development (about 7.1 ha), commercial development (about 17.7 ha) and mixed residential and commercial development (about 4.4 ha) within the NDA, as well as some modern industry sites (about 15.6 ha) mainly for logistics and storage uses, etc. The Government has considered multiple factors in designating specific sites within the NDA for in-situ land exchange. The factors include whether the relevant sites would need to be reserved for Government’s works or intended for financing railway projects under the “Rail-plus-Property” model; the area of government land within a development site; and policy considerations on whether the Government intends to adopt means other than in-situ land exchange for industry development at the sites concerned, etc. In addition, the facilitating measure for landowners owning 90 per cent or above of private land within a development site to carry out consolidated development is also applicable to the land exchange applications this time. The Government hopes that these revised arrangements could better leverage market forces to enhance the speed of developing the Northern Metropolis and bring about a better development layout of the NDA.
The land exchange arrangement would cover sites currently available for applications within the Second Phase and Remaining Phase developments of the NDA. The deadline for submitting land exchange applications in respect of the Second Phase development is April 30, 2024, while the deadline for acceptance of binding basic terms offer (with premium) is March 31, 2025. Applicants may choose standard rates for premium assessment, as an alternative to the conventional case-by-case assessment mechanism. The applicable level of standard rates will be announced later this year. If an application cannot be concluded within the specified deadline, the Government will proceed to initiate the land resumption procedures in taking forward the NDA development so as not to delay the overall works programme.
As regards sites available for in-situ land exchange within the Remaining Phase development, the designated development sites are mainly in the proximity to existing roads and engineering infrastructure. In order to tie in with the overall works programme, LandsD will accord priority to processing land exchange applications involving development sites within the Second Phase development. As for applications within the Remaining Phase development, the deadlines for submitting applications and the acceptance of binding basic terms offer (with premium) will be separately announced later.
The HSK/HT NDA is situated within the High-end Professional Services and Logistics Hub of the Northern Metropolis, which will supply land for housing, commercial, industry and community developments. The site formation and engineering infrastructure works of the First Phase development commenced in 2020, with the first population scheduled for moving in at the fourth quarter of this year, mainly to the Dedicated Rehousing Estate. Subject to funding approval by the Legislative Council, the site formation and engineering infrastructure works of the Second Phase development is planned to commence progressively from the first half of 2024.
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Upon full development, the HSK/HT NDA will provide about 66 700 housing units accommodating a population of about 183 900, and about 6.4 million square metres of gross floor area for various industrial and commercial activities. Also, about 150 000 job opportunities will be created. read more
​The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Jakarta (HKETO Jakarta) hosted a Chinese New Year dinner in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, today (February 1) to welcome the Year of the Dragon. Some 120 guests from the local government, business, academic, cultural and media sectors attended.
In her welcoming speech, the Director-General of the HKETO Jakarta, Miss Libera Cheng, said that bilateral trade in goods between Hong Kong and Brunei Darussalam amounted to US$45 million in 2022, representing an annual average growth of over 15 per cent since 2018. Year-on-year growth in the first three quarters in 2023 even reached about 50 per cent. Hong Kong is endeavouring to seek early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to bolster economic and trade ties with other economies in the region.
“Hong Kong is well positioned to serve Brunei’s aspiration for economic diversification. We boast a sophisticated financial market and free flows of capital, as well as a well-established judicial system, to provide protection for investors. In May 2023, the Chief Justice of Brunei visited Hong Kong to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation on issues relating to dispute avoidance and resolution, further enhancing bilateral collaboration. With our positioning as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific Region under the 14th Five-Year Plan, there is immense room for co-operation between our two common law jurisdictions,” she added.
She also provided an overview of the latest developments in Hong Kong’s logistics sector, including air cargo facilities completed in recent months and the Action Plan on Maritime and Port Development Strategy promulgated in December 2023. Meanwhile, she introduced to guests opportunities under the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme and various talent attraction measures.
Dignitaries joining the dinner included the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Trade and Industry) of the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Brunei Darussalam, Mr Mohammad Harris bin Brigadier Jeneral (Rtd) Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim; the Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Mr Xiao Jianguo; the Regional Director of South East Asia and South Asia of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Ronald Ho, and senior representatives from major business chambers in Brunei Darussalam.
The dinner also featured a music performance to promote Hong Kong’s unique East-meets-West culture and strengthen people-to-people ties with Brunei Darussalam.
The HKETO Jakarta will continue to host events in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries under its purview in the coming weeks to celebrate Chinese New Year. read more
The Food Wise Hong Kong Steering Committee held its 11th meeting today (February 1). Members expressed support for enhancing the promotion of food waste recycling to prepare for the implementation of municipal solid waste (MSW) charging on August 1.
The meeting was chaired by the Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Miss Diane Wong. “At present, about 11 100 tonnes of MSW are generated each day and food waste accounts for about 30 per cent of MSW disposal. To prepare for the implementation of MSW charging, in addition to promoting a food wise and waste less culture, the Environmental Protection Department has been continuously implementing various measures for collecting food waste from commercial and industrial entities as well as domestic sectors. In order to reduce the disposal of food waste at landfills, active participation and co-operation from the public and all sectors in the community are necessary,” Miss Wong said. She expressed gratitude to all members for their valuable advice and participation in soliciting support from stakeholders of their trades in this regard.
At the meeting, members examined the latest progress of the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign and were briefed on the Government’s food waste management strategies and their implementation. They also recognised the importance of the Campaign in reducing food waste. Since its launch in 2013, the Campaign has been promoting a “food wise and waste less” culture through carrying out various schemes and activities, such as the “Food Wise Charter” and “Food Wise Eateries”, as well as the publicity of the “Big Waster” to encourage behavioural changes of the community to avoid and reduce the generation of food waste at source. With the implementation of MSW charging on August 1 this year, the Steering Committee considered that it is important to collaborate with different sectors of the community in reducing and recycling food waste by enhancing promotion and education. In this connection, the Steering Committee agreed to extend the Campaign for two years, and proposed to launch a series of events to train, support, promote and educate various sectors of the community to encourage and facilitate them to participate in food waste reduction and recycling.
The Steering Committee also expressed that public awareness of the MSW charging is the determining factor of its effectiveness. The Steering Committee supports the Government in continuing to explain the details of the implementation of MSW charging to all sectors and to enhance promotion on support measures in waste reduction and recycling proactively. The members commit to working collaboratively with the Government and will actively promote the MSW charging and food waste recycling to the trade and relevant stakeholders. They will call on their partners to continue providing staunch support in promoting the measures for achieving the vision of “Waste Reduction‧Resources Circulation‧ Zero Landfill” .
The Steering Committee was set up in 2012 and is tasked with formulating and overseeing the implementation strategies of the Campaign, which aims to promote public awareness of food waste problems in Hong Kong, and co-ordinate efforts within the Government and public institutions to lead by example in food waste reduction, as well as encouraging and facilitating the source separation and recycling of unavoidable food waste. The Steering Committee is set up with members drawn from relevant sectors, including catering and hotels, property management, environmental hygiene services, education, advertising, green groups, and relevant government departments. The membership list of the present term of the Steering Committee is at Annex.
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, at the media and VIP reception of ComplexCon Hong Kong 2024 today (February 1):
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,
I am glad to join this event today to announce the event details of ComplexCon Hong Kong 2024, the first ever ComplexCon Asia edition.
My Bureau, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, is proud to be a partner to this project, rendering our full support, including funding from the Mega ACE Fund (Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund) which was set up last year to attract international and large-scale arts and cultural events to be held in Hong Kong.
There will be a series of events at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2024 featuring famous artists, influential designers as well as a lot of world-known brands, bringing to us good entertainment, trendy products as well as good business opportunities, which will certainly help raise Hong Kong’s profile as a city for international arts and cultural events.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the organiser, Complex Chinese, for bringing this iconic cultural World Fair to Hong Kong. I wish the event a great success and all of you having a good time tonight and during ComplexCon Hong Kong. read more