The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Quality Public Housing Construction and Maintenance Awards 2023 awards presentation ceremony organised by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and industry-related organisations was held today (December 18) to commend the exemplary performance of practitioners in construction and maintenance works.
 
     At the ceremony, the Permanent Secretary for Housing and Director of Housing, Miss Rosanna Law, said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the HA. She expressed her gratitude to contractors and workers who have been working alongside the HA for the past half century to provide adequate housing for the grassroots in Hong Kong.
 
     "In the face of the huge demand for public housing and maintenance works of public housing estates, I expect in earnest that the industry will continue to widely adopt smart technologies to improve construction safety and efficiency, and to enhance property management," she continued.
 
     In this 16th awards presentation ceremony, about 140 awards were presented to contractors, sub-contractors, project teams, supervisors and frontline workers in recognition of their outstanding performance. This year, an Innovative Application of Smart Technology award was specially introduced to encourage the adoption of more innovative technologies by the industry. The ceremony was held at the HA Headquarters in Homantin, Kowloon.
 
     Co-organisers of the event include the Hong Kong Construction Association, the Hong Kong Federation of Electrical and Mechanical Contractors, the Hong Kong Construction Sub-Contractors Association, the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, the Construction Site Workers General Union, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electrical Engineering and Appliances Trade Workers Union, the Hong Kong General Union of Lift and Escalator Employees, the Labour Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Council, the Construction Industry Council and the Vocational Training Council.

  

     Among the 55 commercial stalls of the Hong Kong Flower Show 2024, 53 were let at the auction held on December 13. The remaining two designated fast food stalls (F5 and F6) will be leased at its upset price on a first-come, first-served basis from 9am to 4pm on December 28 (Thursday). If more than one person is in the queue, each person can rent only one stall at a time.
 
     The two designated fast food stalls measure 5 metres x 10m. The letting price is $22,740 and the security deposit is $4,528 for each stall. The licensee of the F5 fast food stall shall only sell vegetarian food and the F6 fast food stall shall only sell sandwiches, bakery products (such as cookies), and ready-to-eat traditional snack food (such as beans pudding, cha kwo, sesame rolls, peanuts, glutinous rice balls and almond biscuits) during the licence period.
 
     Those wishing to rent the stalls must be 18 years old or above and ordinarily resident in Hong Kong under section 2 of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) or any company incorporated in Hong Kong. Where the renter is a company, the authorised representative of the company must produce the following documents: (i) the company's Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate; and (ii) an authorisation letter showing that the representative is authorised to act on the company's behalf in the rental and to sign the Licence Agreement on the company's behalf. Interested parties must bring cash or cheque to pay the rent and approach the Secretariat of the Hong Kong Flower Show in person at 11/F, Leisure and Cultural Services Headquarters, 1-3 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin.
 
     Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the 10-day Hong Kong Flower Show 2024 will be held from March 15 to 24 at Victoria Park. The 55 commercial stalls in the showground include 42 flower and gardening stalls, seven fast food stalls, two handicraft stalls, two beverage stalls, one photographic equipment stall, and one book stall.
 
     For enquiries, please call 2601 8260 or visit www.hkflowershow.hk/en/hkfs/2024/commercial.html.

     Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for October 2023 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (December 18) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.
 
     In October 2023, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods decreased by 4.1% and 1.6% respectively over October 2022.
 
     Comparing the first ten months of 2023 with the same period in 2022, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods decreased by 14.5% and 11.8% respectively.
 
     Comparing the three-month period ending October 2023 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 4.3% and 3.1% respectively.
 
     Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.
 
     Comparing October 2023 with October 2022, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 5.0% and 3.6% respectively.
 
     As regards price changes in the first ten months of 2023 over the same period in 2022, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 4.3% and 3.8% respectively.
 
     Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade, which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.
 
     The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods.  Compared with the same periods in 2022, the index increased by 1.3% in October 2023 and 0.5% in the first ten months of 2023.
 
     Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.
 
     Comparing October 2023 with October 2022, declines were recorded for the total export volume to Taiwan (-8.6%), the USA (-1.2%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (-1.2%). On the other hand, the total export volume to Vietnam (8.7%) and India (18.6%) increased.
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to all main destinations increased:
India (6.7%), the Mainland (6.2%), Vietnam (5.3%), the USA (3.3%) and Taiwan (1.4%).
 
     Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.
 
     Comparing October 2023 with October 2022, declines were recorded for the import volume from Korea (-17.0%), Japan (-11.0%) and the Mainland (-1.8%). On the other hand, the import volume from Taiwan (4.9%) and Singapore (6.1%) increased.
 
     Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from all main suppliers increased: Taiwan (5.9%), Singapore (5.4%), the Mainland (4.3%), Korea (2.4%) and Japan (1.1%).
 
Further information
 
     Details of the above statistics are published in the October 2023 issue of "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers".  Users can browse and download the report at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020006&scode=230).
 
     Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4918).

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (December 18) the preliminary figures of chain volume measures of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by economic activity for the third quarter of 2023.
 
     GDP figures by economic activity show the value of production in respect of individual economic activities. The value of production is measured by value added or net output, which is calculated by deducting intermediate input consumed in the process of production from the gross value of output. Volume measures of GDP by economic activity, expressed in terms of chain volume measures net of the effect of price changes, enable analysis of the output growth profiles of individual economic sectors in real terms.
 
     According to the preliminary figures, overall GDP increased by 4.1% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the 1.5% increase in the second quarter of 2023.
 
     Analysed by constituent services sector and on a year-on-year comparison, value added in respect of all the services activities taken together increased by 4.0% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the 1.8% increase in the second quarter. The Hong Kong economy continued to revive in the third quarter of 2023, supported by inbound tourism and private consumption. Yet, the difficult external environment continued to weigh on some service industries.
 
     Value added in the import and export, wholesale and retail trades sector increased by 1.5% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, as against the decrease of 4.0% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the accommodation and food services sector rose by 18.1% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, after the growth of 23.1% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the transportation, storage, postal and courier services sector increased by 31.5% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the increase of 27.4% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the information and communications sector increased by 1.7% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, as against the decline of 0.3% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the financing and insurance sector decreased by 0.6% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, compared with the decrease of 1.5% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the real estate, professional and business services sector registered a growth of 2.9% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, as against the decline of 1.0% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the public administration, social and personal services sector rose by 2.6% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the increase of 2.4% in the second quarter.
 
     As for sectors other than the services sectors, value added in the local manufacturing sector rose by 4.4% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the increase of 2.7% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the electricity, gas and water supply, and waste management sector increased by 0.3% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the increase of 3.1% in the second quarter.
 
     Value added in the construction sector increased by 9.6% in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 over a year earlier, compared with the 7.3% increase in the second quarter.
 
Further information
 
     The year-on-year percentage changes of GDP by economic activity in real terms from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023 are shown in Table 1. More detailed statistics are given in the report "Gross Domestic Product by Economic Activity". Users can browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1030004&scode=250). For enquiries about statistics on GDP by economic activity, please call the National Income Branch (2) of the C&SD at 3903 7005.
 
     Figures of chain volume measures of GDP by economic activity for the third quarter of 2023 are only preliminary at this stage. When more data become available, the preliminary figures will be revised accordingly and can be found at the C&SD website (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/scode250.html).

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt, and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on December 15 to noon today (December 18), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 282 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category, in the past three days (including last Saturday and Sunday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 20 632 samples of food imported from Japan (including 13 721 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 5 764 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.