The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) is supporting the participation of Hong Kong films at the 46th Festival des 3 Continents being held in Nantes, France, from November 15 to 23.

     The Festival des 3 Continents is paying tribute to Hong Kong director Derek Yee with a retrospective of his movies from 1977 to 2007. In addition, the Festival is showing two Hong Kong movies, namely "In Broad Daylight" by Lawrence Kan and "Time Still Turns the Pages" by Nick Cheuk.

     HKETO, Brussels hosted a reception on November 20 (Nantes time) for about 80 guests from local film, cultural and business sectors. Speaking at the reception, Assistant Representative Mr Paul Leung said that Hong Kong is an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges and an Asian front runner in global film production. 
 
     "To enhance the development of the film industry, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been supporting the film industry through the Film Development Fund in four strategic directions, namely nurturing talent, enhancing local production, expanding markets and building audiences," added Mr Leung.

     He highlighted the recently launched Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme, which subsidises film projects co-produced by filmmakers from European and Asian countries to produce films featuring Hong Kong, European and Asian cultures. The scheme aims to support Hong Kong films in expanding to overseas markets.

     The Festival des 3 Continents screens movies from Asia, Africa and Latin America, and has featured film directors to the French public since 1979. 

  

     â€‹The 42nd Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA), hosted by the Correctional Services Department (CSD), concluded today (November 21).
      
     This year's APCCA, themed "Collaboration for Sustainable and High-quality Development", was attended by about 140 correctional chiefs and representatives from 30 Asia-Pacific countries and regions (including 16 Belt and Road countries), as well as representatives of relevant professional organisations.
      
     Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, said that the APCCA this year has achieved fruitful results and fostered exchanges and closer collaboration among correctional organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. He thanked delegates for their active participation in the Conference and sharing of valuable experiences and insights, bringing new inspiration to promoting sustainable and high-quality correctional work.
      
     Mr Wong stressed that collaboration on all fronts is key to achieving sustainable and high-quality development. Looking ahead, he hoped APCCA members will continue to maintain close liaisons, and create opportunities for co-operation, working together to promote sustainable and high-quality developments in corrections.
      
     This is the fourth time the CSD has served as the host of the APCCA. The Conference this year covered topics in five specialised areas, namely "Challenges and initiatives in corrections", "Training, fostering and developing staff: Ensuring a professional, accountable and supportive culture", "Technology as an aid to reducing prison violence, and to managing and rehabilitating offenders in prison and the community", "Working with families and communities to improve rehabilitation and reintegration", and "How to design, construct and operate prisons in a more environmentally friendly way". During the Conference, participants actively engaged in discussions and exchanges among one another. They also visited correctional institutions in Hong Kong to learn about Smart Prison development in Hong Kong and diversified rehabilitation programmes of the CSD.
      
     As the host of the Conference this year, to tell participants from over the world the good stories of Hong Kong, the CSD specially arranged for participants to visit popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong such as Victoria Harbour, the Avenue of Stars and Ngong Ping, providing them with unique cultural and culinary experiences to experience the charm of the city.

    

     The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, and Vice Mayor of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government Mr Tao Yongxin, leading delegations of the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Shenzhen respectively, held the third meeting of the Task Force for Hong Kong-Shenzhen Co-operation on Cross-Boundary Railway Infrastructure in Shenzhen today (November 21).

     At the meeting, both sides discussed the progress of the work of cross-boundary railway projects, including deliberation of the findings of the second-stage study of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link (Hung Shui Kiu-Qianhai) (HSWRL) and the arrangements for the implementation of the Northern Link (NOL) Spur Line. Both sides agreed to jointly set up an Office for Implementing Cross-boundary Railway Projects by the relevant departments of the governments of the two places to take forward the planning and design of the next stage of the HSWRL and the NOL Spur Line projects, and to set up a Legal Group to focus on the study and discussion of the legal issues involved in the two projects.

     Mr Lam said, "Since its establishment, the Task Force has been working closely together to conduct in-depth studies on cross-boundary railway infrastructure and diligently planning for relevant railway projects, with a view to better facilitating Hong Kong's integration into the development of the Greater Bay Area. Upon completion, the HSWRL and the NOL Spur Line will also serve as parts of an important transport backbone for the Northern Metropolis."

     Representatives of the HKSAR Government attending the meeting today included officials from the Development Bureau, the Security Bureau, the Highways Department, the Planning Department and the Transport Department.

     To further enhance the connectivity of the Greater Bay Area's infrastructure, the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen established the Task Force for Hong Kong-Shenzhen Co-operation on Cross-Boundary Railway Infrastructure in August 2021 to jointly develop the "GBA on the Rail" and to take forward the HSWRL and the NOL Spur Line projects.

    

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (November 21) that the Environmental Protection Department has classified the water quality at Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island, as Grade 4, which means the beach is not suitable for swimming. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at the beach until further notice.

     The red flag was hoisted earlier at the beach due to big waves.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 21) that in view of notifications from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan, and outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Ganghwa-gun of Incheon Province and Eumseong-gun of Chungcheongbuk-do Province in Korea, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 2 000 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 227.42 million poultry eggs from Japan, and about 20 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 15.52 million poultry eggs from Korea in the first nine months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Japanese and Korean authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.