The Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mr Victor Liu, led a Civil Aviation Department (CAD) delegation to attend the 58th Conference of Directors General of Civil Aviation, Asia and Pacific Regions, organised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

     The theme for this year's Conference was "Promoting ICAO Gender Equality Programme in conjunction with Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) initiative". The five-day Conference, attended in-person by more than 320 delegates from 48 states, administrations and industry organisations, concluded on a high note today (October 19). Discussion and information papers covering a wide range of subjects, including aviation safety, air navigation, aviation security, aviation and the environment, aviation technologies, as well as regional co-operation, were submitted by aviation authorities and industry organisations to the Conference.
 
     Among the four papers submitted to the Conference by the CAD, one of them was themed "Achieving Gender Equality for the next generation of aviation professionals in Hong Kong, China" in response to the Conference's initiative, sharing the experience of the local aviation industry and the CAD in promoting gender equality. Meanwhile, the other three papers shared the CAD's experience in leveraging digitalisation and automation for smart air navigation and airport operations, achieving high resilience in sustaining operations of critical aeronautical infrastructure, and briefed the Conference on the upcoming Asia Pacific Region Innovation & Capacity Building Symposium 2023, with the theme "Uniting the Strength of Innovation for Building a Seamless Sky", to be jointly hosted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the CAD of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy at the Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo in December 2023.

     During the Conference, Mr Liu reported the work progress of the ICAO Regional Aviation Safety Group – Asia and Pacific Regions as the Chairperson.
 
     During their stay in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the CAD delegation signed an updated Technical Arrangement on Aviation Maintenance with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The CAD delegation also attended side meetings with representatives from the CAAC, the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Papua New Guinea, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, and the International Air Transport Association. Views on matters of mutual interest, including the recovery progress of aviation sectors across the region, were shared, and ways to strengthen co-operation were explored with the aim of injecting new impetus to facilitate aviation developments.

      

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Thursday, October 19, 2023 is 106.6 (up 0.2 against yesterday's index).

     The Education Bureau today (October 19) invites the 2023/24 round of applications under the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS) of the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund for projects proposed to be launched in the 2024/25 academic year. The application deadline is February 29, 2024.

    The QESS is a major support measure to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary education sector, with the aim of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in the sector. It accepts applications under three project categories, namely theme-based projects, open-ended projects and industrial attachment projects.
    
     Applicants in the category of theme-based projects may set their own themes, provided that the projects are conducted in a collaborative manner, i.e. planned and undertaken by more than one eligible institution to foster closer collaboration and synergy among institutions and benefit the sector as widely as possible.

     The applicants in the category of open-ended projects need to submit applications in relation to the relevant areas of the QESS funding. The main areas include:

(1) improving the overall learning experience and language proficiency of students;

(2) developing and improving the teaching methodology and practices, including the development of assessment strategies;

(3) strengthening and improving quality assurance and related measures; and

(4) enhancing student support and career guidance services, including support for non-Chinese speaking students and students with special educational needs.

    As regards the category of industrial attachment projects, applicants can submit proposals within the following areas:

(1) incorporating quality assured work-based learning and assessments in the programme curriculum through close partnership with industries;

(2) sourcing of more industrial attachment opportunities within and/or outside Hong Kong, and/or enhancement of relevant institutional support to students; and

(3) organisation of visits or short-term training/courses conducted within and/or outside Hong Kong for students, which are directly relevant to industrial attachment.

     All non-profit-making education institutions offering full-time locally accredited self-financing sub-degree or bachelor's degree (including top-up degree) programmes are eligible to apply. Other related bodies such as the federations of these education institutions and quality assurance agencies may also apply. All applications will be considered by the Sub-committee on Support Measures established under the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education.

     Since its launch in 2012, the QESS has approved over 110 projects with a total grant of about $408 million. In the 2022/23 round of applications, seven out of 25 applications were approved with a total earmarked grant of about $22 million. The aims of the approved projects include enhancing students' learning effectiveness and their understanding and practice of inter-professional communications through developing a virtual reality serious game; establishing a digital competency education resource centre for supporting students' learning and establishing an innovative gerontological learning hub with technology-assisted learning tools for improving students' knowledge and skills; and strengthening students' employability and job-readiness skills through various industrial attachment activities such as industry seminars, mentorships, exposure tours, job matching, virtual job tryouts and simulation-based assessments.

     Further details of the QESS, including the scopes of various categories of projects and the application procedures, are available at the Concourse for Self-financing Post-secondary Education (www.cspe.edu.hk/en/qess-project.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 October 18 to noon today (October 19), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 137 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 9 436 samples of food imported from Japan (including 6 169 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 2 756 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (October 19) that due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty, Mui Wo Swimming Pool in Islands District will be temporarily closed from 4pm today until further notice to ensure the safety of swimmers.