A Government spokesman said today (October 25) that the physical office of Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) would formally be established on October 30 and render full support to the Government's endeavours to trawl for and retain talents.

     Establishing HKTE is one of the new initiatives announced by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address today. HKTE provides support for incoming talents, formulates talent attraction strategies and follows up with their development and needs after arrival. HKTE will collaborate with organisations and stakeholders in various sectors to proactively attract global talents with diverse backgrounds to come and settle in Hong Kong and develop their careers, with a view to contributing to the long-term development of Hong Kong.

     The Director of HKTE is Mr Anthony Lau Chun-hon. He served as the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board from 2007 to 2019. He also held key positions in different business entities and made significant contributions to the promotion of the Hong Kong brand. Mr Lau leads HKTE to go all out to trawl for and retain talents to raise Hong Kong's competitiveness.

  

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Kwun Tong this morning (October 25) in which an 83-year-old man died.

     At about 10.22am, a minibus driven by a 70-year-old man was entering Yue Man Square Public Transport Interchange from Hip Wo Street. When approaching near a minibus station inside the Public Transport Interchange, it reportedly knocked down the 83-year-old man who was crossing the road.
 
     The man was trapped under the car and rescued by firemen. Sustaining serious head injuries, he was rushed to United Christian Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 10.53am.

     The minibus driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death and is being detained for enquiries.      
 
     Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, Kowloon East is underway.
     
     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 0263.

     Police strongly condemn the irresponsible driving behaviour of the driver. It not only jeopardises the safety of other road users and threatens ones’ personal safety, but is also the actual cause of serious traffic accidents. Police do not tolerate such acts and will take resolute enforcement action.
 

     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, today (October 25) congratulated Yeung Hiu-lam on winning a gold medal in Boccia Women's Individual BC2 event for the Hong Kong, China Delegation at the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou.
 
     Mr Yeung said, "Yeung remained in high spirits throughout the competitions and performed well even under stress. She is worthy of our respect for the efforts and dedication behind the gold medal. We are thrilled to see her achievements. I would also like to pay tribute to the coach and support team who make this happen."

       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 October 24 to noon today (October 25), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 184 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category. 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 10 361 samples of food imported from Japan (including 6 825 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 3 058 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 is 106.5 (up 0.2 against yesterday's index).