The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, November 6, 2023 is 105.7 (down 0.2 against last Saturday’s index).
The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, November 4, 2023 was 105.9 (down 0.5 against last Friday’s index). read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (November 8) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Residential Properties) Bill 2023 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
On Members’ motions, Reverend Canon Peter Douglas Koon will move a motion on reviewing public finance policies. The motion is set out in Appendix 1. Mr Tony Tse, Dr Hoey Simon Lee and Dr Wendy Hong will move separate amendments to Reverend Canon Koon’s motion.
Mr Stanley Ng will move a motion on accelerating the construction of community facilities for a smart city and bridging the digital divide. The motion is set out in Appendix 2. Professor William Wong, Mr Duncan Chiu, Ms Elizabeth Quat, Mr Lee Chun-keung and Dr Lee will move separate amendments to Mr Ng’s motion.
Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats. read more
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 November 3 to noon today (November 6), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 253 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 12 542 samples of food imported from Japan (including 8 345 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 3 658 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.
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The self-service library station located at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui will suspend services from 9.30pm on November 13 (Monday) to 7.15am on the following day to facilitate the periodic inspection and testi… read more
One of the annual flagship events of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023, was concluded yesterday (November 5). Themed “Fintech Redefined.”, the event this year features more than 500 speakers, 650 exhibitors and tens of thousands of participants from over 90 economies either in person or virtually.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, announced three major initiatives to foster co-development of fintech and real economy at the Main Conference of the FinTech Week on November 2. These include launching a new Integrated Fund Platform (IFP), welcoming cross-boundary e-CNY applications to benefit inbound and outbound visitors between the Mainland and Hong Kong, and promoting real economy-related applications and innovations by the Virtual Assets (VA) and Web3.0 sector, as well as further development of the regulatory framework.
“To elaborate on our three major initiatives, the FSTB published today (November 6) details of each of them for better understanding by all stakeholders,” Mr Hui said.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) welcomes the plan to establish a new IFP for retail fund distribution, noting that this will reinforce Hong Kong’s position as a leading international asset and wealth management centre. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) also has announced that it is currently evaluating the operating model and structure of the fund platform. The HKEX will work closely with the Government, the SFC and other stakeholders on the development.
The e-CNY applications announced represent cross-boundary financial innovations, connecting the e-CNY ecosystem with payment vehicle and banking payment system in Hong Kong. These innovations focus on retail payments, facilitating cross-boundary consumption and the interconnectivity within the Greater Bay Area. They also pave the way for exploring more future application scenarios and use cases of e-CNY in the Greater Bay Area.
On facilitating innovations by the VA and Web3.0 sector, the Government will seek to promote real economy-related applications and innovations by the sector, for example tokenisation of Real World Assets and traditional financial assets, and further development of the regulatory framework for VA-related activities.
“I am glad to learn that our initiatives are well supported. Looking ahead, the Government will join hands with regulators and major market players to press ahead with the initiatives, with a view to injecting new energy to our ever-growing fintech ecosystem,” Mr Hui said.
Details of the three major initiatives announced in the FinTech Week can be found in annexes.
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