Following is the speech (English translation) by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the High-level Forum on Connectivity of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing today (October 18):
 
Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good afternoon. I am pleased to attend today's High-level Forum on Connectivity to discuss with you how we can deepen the development of "hard connectivity" – connectivity on infrastructure, as well as "soft connectivity" – connectivity on regulations and standards. Both of them are crucial to furthering the Belt and Road Initiative.
      
     Under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying the Mainland's strong support and being closely connected to the world. Geographically, Hong Kong is the southern gateway of our country, China, and can reach half of the world's population within five hours of flight, well-positioned as a regional connectivity hub.
      
     Our Hong Kong International Airport is the world's busiest cargo airport, handling some 4.2 million tonnes of cargo last year. Our Hong Kong Port is one of the 10 busiest container ports in the world, handling some 17 million twenty-foot equivalent units of containers last year.
      
     Hong Kong has already signed air services agreements or air services transit agreements with some 50 participating countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. On land transport, Hong Kong is connected with the over 40 000 kilometre‑long national high speed rail network. This, coupled with the landmark Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, facilitate interaction and underpin close economic ties between Hong Kong and different places in Mainland China.
      
     The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is composed of the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province. Hong Kong is fully committed to facilitating the provision of an efficient and well-connected sea, land and air transportation network in the Greater Bay Area, so as to create a "one-hour living circle" which is ideal for living, working and travelling, and in turn, offers crucial support for the joint development of the Belt and Road.
      
     We will continue to serve as a premier gateway for passengers and goods from all over the world to the Mainland and vice versa, and help to promote the joint development of "hard connectivity" of transport infrastructure for Belt and Road countries.
      
     Meanwhile, we attach great importance to the development of "soft connectivity" under the Belt and Road Initiative. Hong Kong people are biliterate and trilingual, and well versed in the business environment and culture of both the international community and Mainland China. Hong Kong's diversified professional services are among the world's best. We are pressing ahead with the high-quality development of Belt and Road projects concerning such areas as engineering, construction, accounting, insurance, investment and financing, and legal and dispute resolution. Through co-operation and sharing of innovation experience, we are seeking to achieve connectivity in professional fields.
      
     Hong Kong serves not only as a two-way platform between Mainland China and other Belt and Road countries, but also as a key link for the Belt and Road, and even global, investment and economic and trade networks.
      
     Hong Kong boasts a substantial foreign currency deposit base and trade volume, and is the world's largest offshore Renminbi hub. Hong Kong has long been an ideal corporate treasury centre for Belt and Road projects and the prime platform for issuance of bonds and related products. The city provides an important channel for connectivity of capital under the Belt and Road Initiative.
      
     Moreover, Hong Kong has been contributing to fostering people-to-people bonds for Belt and Road countries. Hong Kong is an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, and also a dynamic Asia's world city. We have a wealth of museums and exhibition resources. Located at West Kowloon Cultural District, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which showcases treasures from the Forbidden City, and the M+, which is Asia's first global museum of contemporary visual culture, have become must‑see attractions for both local and inbound visitors.
      
     As our tourism industry sees a strong recovery, we look forward to welcoming friends from our Belt and Road partners to Hong Kong. Together, we can enhance mutual learning and build a global community of shared future in this free and open city.
      
     In the years to come, Hong Kong will spare no effort to strengthen infrastructure connectivity and financial integration with different Belt and Road countries, develop bilateral and multilateral economic and trade relations with our Belt and Road partners and, by doing so, help enhance the connectivity between our country and the world.
      
     In closing, I wish the forum a great success. Thank you.

      

     The Government noted that the Legislative Council today (October 18) passed the Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2023 for regulating disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products, and for enhancing two existing producer responsibility schemes (PRS).
 
     The main regulations on disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products under the Amendment Bill include:

1. Regulation of disposable plastic tableware

     The Amendment Bill prohibits the local sale of nine types of disposable plastic tableware, and prohibits catering premises from providing customers with such products, with implementation carried out in two phases. In the first-phase regulation, the sale of expanded polystyrene (EPS) tableware and four other types of disposable plastic tableware that are small in size and difficult to recycle or to which there are mature alternatives will be prohibited, and so will the provision of such tableware to takeaway customers. Moreover, the provision of all nine types of disposable plastic tableware to dine-in customers at catering premises will be prohibited. The regulation will be fully implemented in the second phase. Details are summarised as follows:
 

2. Other plastic products

     The Amendment Bill also regulates the manufacturing, selling and distributing of a series of disposable plastic products, which will also be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, it is proposed to ban the sale and provision of those products that either have established non-plastic alternatives or are not necessities. Hotels and guesthouses are banned from providing disposable toiletries and in-room plastic-bottled water for free. Moreover, the manufacturing, selling and free distribution of oxo-degradable plastics products are banned. The phased regulation on various types of plastic products is summarised below:
 

     A spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said, "To allow the trade to get prepared, we will commence the first-phase regulation around six months after the passage of the Amendment Bill. We propose to implement the first-phase regulation from April 22, 2024, in support of Earth Day. The timing of implementing the second-phase regulation will depend on the availability and affordability of the relevant non-plastic or reusable alternatives, and it is tentatively set for 2025. We encourage the trade to get prepared early for the relevant control measures, and jointly build a plastic-free culture."
 
     To facilitate the adoption of non-plastic tableware in lieu of disposable plastic ones by the trade, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has commissioned the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency to set up an online information platform for reference by the food and beverage trade, tableware suppliers and the public. The platform (www.greentableware.hk/en-us/) has been accepting applications from tableware suppliers since November last year. Currently, more than 400 non-plastic disposable tableware products are listed on the platform. The platform also provides information on tableware rental and cleaning services to encourage restaurants to adopt reusable tableware and further reduce waste. Moreover, the EPD is establishing an information platform on disposable plastics to share with the public the characteristics and pros and cons of different alternatives for the public to make well-informed choices. The department will continue to promote reduction of disposable plastic tableware through different channels so as to reduce waste at source. For instance, it launched the Bring Your Own Containers Eateries Scheme last month to encourage the general public to develop the good habit of bringing their own containers when ordering takeaways. Currently, more than 350 restaurants have participated in the scheme.
 
     In addition, the Amendment Bill expands the coverage of the PRS on waste electrical and electronic equipment to include refrigerators and washing machines with larger capacities as well as stand-alone clothes dryers and dehumidifiers. It also removes the requirements in relation to the provision of recycling labels in the distribution of regulated electrical equipment so as to streamline the operation. This amendment is expected to be implemented on July 1, 2024. Moreover, the Amendment Bill also optimises the operation of the PRS on glass beverage containers.
 
     For details of the Amendment Bill, please visit www.legco.gov.hk/en/legco-business/council/bills.html?bill_key=10010&session=2023.

     Led by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, the high-level Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) delegation continued to proactively participate in the third Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation in Beijing today (October 18), with six government officials and nine non-official delegation members speaking or moderating at nine parallel forums respectively. All members of the delegation also respectively attended the nine parallel forums for full participation in the events of the Forum.
      
     Mr Lee, together with the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, and the Chairman of John Swire & Sons (HK), Mr Guy Bradley, attended the opening ceremony of the Forum this morning.
      
     Under the theme of "High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity", the Forum featured nine parallel forums this afternoon, namely three high-level forums focusing on connectivity, green development and digital economy, and six thematic forums covering trade connectivity, people-to-people connectivity, think tank exchanges, clean silk road, sub-national co-operation and maritime co-operation.
      
     Speaking at the high-level forum on connectivity, Mr Lee briefed the participants on Hong Kong's work in and contribution to enhancing "hard connectivity" in infrastructure as well as "soft connectivity" in regulations and standards.
      
     Mr Lee said that under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support from the country and being closely connected to the world, and has all along served as a two-way platform between the country and Belt and Road countries, as well as a key link for the Belt and Road and global investment, business and trade. He pointed out that in addition to providing an important channel for connectivity of capital under the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI), Hong Kong also serves as a premier gateway for passengers and goods from all over the world to the Mainland and vice versa. At the same time, Hong Kong is committed to promoting "soft connectivity", including connectivity in professional services and people-to-people bond.
      
     He said that the HKSAR would strive to strengthen bilateral and multilateral economic and trade relations with Belt and Road countries, with a view to further enhancing the connectivity between the country and the world.
      
     In his speech delivered at the thematic forum on sub-national co-operation, Mr Lee highlighted regional co-operation as an integral part of the concerted effort to develop the Belt and Road, and elaborated on how Hong Kong promotes co-operation on various fronts. These included actively promoting in-depth integration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the B&RI, and joining hands with other GBA cities in pursuing high-level regional co-operation; signing free trade agreements with 20 economies and investment agreements with 31 economies around the world; striving to seek for early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to deepen regional economic collaboration; signing memoranda of understanding on cultural co-operation with Belt and Road partner countries to foster arts and cultural exchanges; encouraging co-operation in education and training through the Belt and Road Scholarship and the Scheme for Subsidy on Exchange to Belt and Road Regions for Post-secondary Students; as well as proactively mobilising the professional forces to collaborate with Belt and Road counterparts in training.
      
     A Hong Kong Chapter moderated by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, was featured at the thematic forum on sub-national co-operation. Mr Lam was joined by the Commissioner for Belt and Road, Mr Nicholas Ho; Member of the Chief Executive's Council of Advisers Dr Allan Zeman; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Dr Peter Lam; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr Pang Yiu-kai; and the Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Mr Nicolas Aguzin, in sharing with the participants Hong Kong's strengths in international legal and dispute resolution services, business environment and financing, as well as the latest developments in the participation and contribution of the younger generation in Hong Kong in the B&RI, Hong Kong's assistance for enterprises in tapping business opportunities, and the work of Hong Kong's professional services in promoting people-to-people bond along the Belt and Road.
      
     Mr Chan and the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Professor Nancy Ip, respectively spoke at the high-level forum on green development and the high-level forum on digital economy. Mr Paul Lam and the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Mr Woo Ying-ming, spoke at the thematic forum on clean silk road while the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, and Mr Bradley spoke at the thematic forum on maritime co-operation. Meanwhile, the Convenor of the Non-official Members of the Executive Council and Co-Chair of Maritime Silk Road Society, Mrs Regina Ip, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Eddie Yue, spoke at the thematic forums on think tank exchanges and trade connectivity respectively. The Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Mr Kenneth Fok, moderated at the thematic forum on people-to-people bond.
      
     Mr Lee and the delegation will return to Hong Kong tomorrow (October 19).

                              

     The Innovation and Technology Commission today (October 18) launched the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+ Scheme) and the first application solicitation exercise. The deadline for application will be November 30. Eligible universities are welcome to apply.
      
     "In order to promote commercialisation of research and development (R&D) outcomes, the Government hopes that the scheme can incentivise collaboration among industry, academic and research sectors to further promote the '1 to N' transformation of R&D outcomes and the industry development," a spokesman for the Commission said.
      
     With a funding allocation of $10 billion, the RAISe+ Scheme will fund, on a matching basis, at least 100 research teams in eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee, which have good potential to become successful start-ups. Funding support from $10 million to $100 million will be provided to each approved project. Assessment criteria include the I&T component of the project, commercial viability of project outcomes, technical and management capability of the team, relevance of the project with government policies or in the project's overall interest to the community, as well as the financial considerations of the project.
      
     The Commission expects the first batch of application results to be announced in the first quarter of 2024 after assessment of applications. Details are available on the RAISe+ Scheme website (www.itf.gov.hk/en/raiseplus). For enquiries, please contact the Secretariat of the scheme (Tel: 3655 5678; email: raiseplus@itc.gov.hk).

     The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the Youth Development Commission (YDC) jointly launched the 2024-25 Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland today (October 18). Eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are invited to submit applications.
      
     The Government attaches great importance to youth development. The HYAB promulgated the Youth Development Blueprint in end-2022, which states that the Government will further strengthen the breadth and depth of the Mainland and international internship and exchange programmes with a view to enhancing young people's understanding of the country and supporting their integration into the overall development of the country. Through the Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland, the HYAB and the YDC provide funding for NGOs to organise youth internship projects on the Mainland for young people to experience first-hand the actual workplace environment therein and deepen their understanding of the Mainland's employment market, workplace culture and development opportunities. It will help young people set their future career goals, accumulate work experience, build an interpersonal network and boost their employment advantage in the future.
      
     Details of the new round of the funding scheme and application forms are available on the YDC website (www.ydc.gov.hk/en/programmes/ip/ip_fundingscheme.html). Interested NGOs should submit their applications on or before  November 17.