The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced today (May 8) that a tender of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes (Notes) under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, for settlement on Thursday, May 16, 2024.

     A total of HK$1.5 billion one-year Notes will be tendered. The Notes will mature on May 16, 2025 and will carry interest indexed to the Hong Kong Dollar Overnight Index Average (HONIA), payable quarterly in arrears.

     Under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme, tender is open only to Recognized Dealers which are appointed as Primary Dealers. Anyone wishing to apply for the Notes on offer can do so through any of the Primary Dealers on the current published list, which can be obtained from the Hong Kong Government Bonds website at www.hkgb.gov.hk. Each tender must be for an amount of HK$50,000 or integral multiples thereof.

     Tender results will be published on the HKMA's website, the Hong Kong Government Bonds website, the Refinitiv screen (HKGBINDEX), and Bloomberg (GBHK <GO>) not later than 3pm on the tender day.

HKSAR Government Institutional Bond Issuance Programme tender information
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     Tender information of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme:
 

     The Second Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) High-quality Talent Development Conference jointly organised by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao was held in Hong Kong today (May 8), with an aim to promote the building of a talent hub in the GBA, and strengthen talent development and tripartite co-operation.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, officiated at the conference and delivered welcome remarks. He said, "Hong Kong is a highly open international city and is also one of the core cities in the GBA. Under the 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong gives full play to the advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world, serving as a talent hub and gateway of both the GBA and the country."

     In addition, Mr Chan shared Hong Kong's underlying roles to play. Hong Kong has relaunched the recruitment of talent from around the world with innovative breakthroughs, and consolidated and further developed the quality higher education system to nurture local talent. As an important bridge linking the Mainland and the rest of the world, Hong Kong is steadfastly promoting a "southbound and northbound" two-way flow of talent. Hong Kong is also promoting co-operation on the nurturing, recruitment and exchange of talent in the GBA.

     Mr Chan concluded that he had full confidence in Hong Kong jointly with the sister cities of the GBA going from strength to strength to enhance the GBA's strategic planning on the admission, nurturing and mobility of talent, with a view to expediting the development of a talent hub in the GBA and making new contributions to the country's high-quality development.

     Mr Chan; the Director General of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, Ms Chen Liwen; the Director-General of the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province, Mr Du Minqi; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), Ms Ao Ieong U, jointly witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on promoting talent services co-operation in the GBA by the Directors of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureaux of the nine municipalities in Guangdong Province; the Director of Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE), Mr Anthony Lau; and the Secretary-General of the Talent Development Committee of the Macao SAR Government, Mr Chao Chong Hang.

     The MOU aimed to implement the national strategic policy of building a talent hub in the GBA through enhancing talent exchanges and co-operation, joint promotions, talent recruitment and campaigns as well as developing a GBA talent services platform together, thereby creating an optimal environment for talent development and bringing mutual benefits by talent co-operation in the GBA.

     Mr Du, Mr Sun and Ms Ao Ieong then delivered their remarks. Mr Sun said that as Hong Kong is facing a manpower shortage in various sectors, it is necessary to implement a more proactive, open and effective talent admission policy to make good use of global innovative resources and bring in talent urgently needed amid the shortage in a targeted approach. This will form an attractive and internationally competitive talent recruitment system, providing solid talent backing for the prosperity of society.

     Since end-2002, the Hong Kong SAR Government has implemented a series of bold and innovative measures, including launching the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) which targets talent with high income and graduates of high academic qualifications, updating the Talent List to reflect the latest shortage of professional and technical talent spanning different fields, and enhancing various prevailing talent admission schemes. The list of universities under the TTPS was also expanded in 2023. HKTE has also been established to provide services for incoming talent to proactively create a community that respects and is determined to attract more talent, Mr Sun added.

     Mr Sun pointed out that the Hong Kong SAR Government will leverage on the advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world with its foothold in the GBA to reinforce Hong Kong's position as an international talent hub. Hong Kong will continue to unite and lead talent with achievements, and bring together talent in the GBA for exchanges, with a view to injecting new impetus into the country's high-quality development.

     Following was a panel discussion jointly hosted by the Head of Talents and Human Resources of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Ms Fanny Wong; the University of Macau Development Foundation Chair Professor of Smart Tourism and Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management of the University of Macau, Professor Rob Law; and the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tongdao Liepin Group, Mr Dai Kebin. They delved into ways to converge and nurture a more in-depth and sustainable talent pool to unleash the strengths of human resources in the GBA to develop into a talent hub.

     In the afternoon, one seminar was held by three emerging entrepreneurs, namely the Founder and CEO of MatrixSense Technology Group Limited, Mr Wiva Wei; the Co-Founder of GOGOX, Mr Reeve Kwan; and the Founder and CEO of NakedLab, Ms Joyce Lau, on exploring opportunities in the GBA and expanding their businesses to the world. The other seminar was hosted by the President of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management, Mr Lawrence Hung, and the CEO of TechJobAsia, Mr Terrance Lok, looking into how artificial intelligence changes the workforce development and response strategies of enterprises.

     Concluding the achievements of the two-day Global Talent Summit · Hong Kong, a spokesman for HKTE said that initial statistics showed that some 4 900 attendees in total participated in the International Talent Forum yesterday (May 7) and the Second Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA High-quality Talent Development Conference today, together with over 130 000 views on the live webcast. The CareerConnect Expo held on both days concurrently attracted over 8 600 attendees, which were beyond expectations.

     "The Summit brought together international and Mainland leaders from political, business and academic sectors to participate and share their insights, coupled with the strong support from our partners in the Expo, and concluded smoothly. We are delighted to note that participants bring the necessary information home and find the Summit rewarding and fruitful," the spokesman added.

     HKTE will continue to step up promotion around the world on Hong Kong’s dual role and advantages as an international talent hub and the country's gateway for talent after the Summit, striving to highlight Hong Kong’s distinctive advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world as well as robust talent policies and comprehensive support to international markets, including those in Southeast Asia and Europe to attract more international talent to Hong Kong.

                

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, met with a delegation led by the Commissioner of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), Mr Li Li, today (May 8) to exchange views on fostering development of policy subjects such as approval of drugs and medical devices, clinical trials, and Chinese medicine (CM) on the Mainland and Hong Kong.

     Professor Lo said, "The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been ushering in immense opportunities for medical and biotechnological developments in recent years. The National 14th Five-Year Plan has expressed clear support to develop Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. The Development Plan for Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone promulgated by the State Council in August last year also put forward 30 measures on ways to work towards synergistic collaboration between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Shenzhen in promoting international I&T.

     "The Chief Executive subsequently announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the HKSAR Government will enhance the prevailing evaluation, approval and registration mechanism for drugs as well as establish an internationally recognised regulatory authority for drugs and medical devices with the long-term objective of setting up an authority which registers drugs and medical devices under the 'primary evaluation' approach. All these aim at accelerating the clinical use of new drugs and medical devices, and spurring the development of industries relating to the research, development and clinical testing of drugs and medical devices.

     "Following the announcement of the Policy Address, the HKSAR Government has been making proactive moves on all fronts and has scored certain achievements in just six months, including the formal acceptance by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use as its observer and the implementation of the new drug approval mechanism, known as the '1+' mechanism, respectively on October 31 and November 1 last year. The HKSAR Government will set up the preparatory office for the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR) in the first half of this year to study the restructuring and strengthening of the regulatory and approval regime for drugs, medical devices and technologies, and put forward proposals and steps for establishing the CMPR which will be a step towards the transition to the 'primary evaluation' approach."

     Moreover, the HKSAR Government will establish the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute (GBAICTI) in the Hetao area by the end of this year. The GBAICTI will provide one-stop clinical trial support services, with a view to further ramping up the capacity and efficiency of clinical trials in Hong Kong and transforming the city into a leading clinical trial hub in Asia.

     Regarding CM, Professor Lo said, "To promote the innovative application of CM data and resources, the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute officially launched a world-class dedicated website, the Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines, in March this year. The Digital Herbarium showcases scientific information and data on over 220 types of commonly used Chinese materia medica and enables users to immerse themselves in a virtual tour for viewing the precious Chinese materia medica specimens donated by the NMPA to the HKSAR Government through the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control."

     After the meeting, the two parties renewed the Co-operation Agreement on Regulation of Drugs and the Co-operation Agreement on Construction, Research and Management of Chinese Medicines Herbarium. At the renewal ceremony, Professor Lo said, "The Health Bureau has long been closely collaborating with the NMPA on the safety and regulation of medical products. The renewal of the Co-operation Agreement on Regulation of Drugs underpinned the liaison and co-ordination arrangements among the NMPA, the Department of Health, and the CMPR to be set up, enabling the HKSAR Government to keep leveraging the city's healthcare strengths to establish a 'primary evaluation' mechanism for the registration of drugs and medical devices, and foster collaboration between the GBAICTI and relevant Mainland organisations in staging a collaborative regional platform for clinical trials. In addition, the renewal of the Co-operation Agreement on Construction, Research and Management of Chinese Medicines Herbarium is conducive to deepening the two parties' collaboration in the field of CM regulation. Through perfecting the collection of the Chinese Medicines Herbarium, its five-pronged functions, namely science popularisation, research, testing, regulation and inheritance, will be further strengthened, assisting in the national drive for CM to go global."

     The Permanent Secretary for Health, Mr Thomas Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; and the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority, Dr Tony Ko, also attended the meeting and the renewal ceremony of the Co-operation Agreements today.

      

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), published today (May 8) a tentative issuance schedule for Government Bonds (GBs) offered under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme for the next six-month period from April to September 2024 (Annex). The tentative issuance schedule contains information on, among others, the tentative tenors, tender dates, issuance sizes, issue dates and methods of issuance of individual GB issues. Further details on the methods of issuance are set out in the Information Memorandum available on the Hong Kong Government Bonds website, www.hkgb.gov.hk.
      
     The tentative issuance schedule is normally published by the HKMA on a half-yearly basis, and the information contained therein, such as the tenors, tender dates, issue dates, issuance sizes, issue codes and methods of issuance are tentative. The HKMA may make adjustments having regard to market conditions. A revised issuance schedule may be issued where appropriate. Other details of individual issues are to be confirmed and announced at least four business days prior to the scheduled tender dates.
      
     It was announced in the 2024-25 Budget that the Government Green Bond Programme (GGBP) and Infrastructure Bond Programme (IBP) would gradually replace the existing Government Bond Programme (GBP). Relevant details will be announced in due course.
      
     The HKMA will continue to service all existing outstanding GBs under the GBP. The Primary Dealers will also continue to undertake market-making activities by providing two-way bid and offer quotations of the outstanding institutional GBs to Recognized Dealers in the secondary market. 

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 8) held the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Certificate Award Ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the IAQ Certification Scheme and commend over 1 000 premises for their efforts in enhancing IAQ during the past year, with 635 premises achieving Excellent Class IAQ and 284 premises achieving Good Class IAQ. Special awards were also presented to premises that have continuously been part of the Scheme for 10, 15 or 20 years, as well as the top 10 organisations with the highest participation rates, in appreciation of their support and contributions to enhancing IAQ.

     Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, said, "Maintaining good IAQ is very important for safeguarding personal health as many people in Hong Kong spend a substantial amount of their time indoors every day. We are deeply grateful for the support of the participating premises owners and property management companies in the Scheme, setting an important example within their sectors and helping raise awareness and reinforce the importance of improving IAQ among the community. The EPD will continue to actively promote the Scheme and encourage more organisations to join."

           Dr Chui added that the IAQ objectives introduced in 2019, which include tightening the concentration levels of carbon monoxide, respirable suspended particulates and radon, will be fully implemented on July 1, 2024, after the five-year transition period. It is believed that the IAQ of the participating premises will be further enhanced.

     The EPD launched the Scheme in 2003 to promote good IAQ management practices. In the past 20 years, the number of premises participating in the Scheme has been increasing steadily, covering various types of premises including office buildings, shopping malls, clubhouses, educational institutions, hotels and other public places. As at the end of 2023, more than 2 100 premises in Hong Kong have obtained IAQ certificates, representing an approximately 25-fold growth rate compared to the number in 2004, demonstrating that the community is increasingly placing importance on IAQ management.

     At the ceremony, the former General Manager of Green Living and Innovation Division of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Mr Raymond Fong, was invited to speak about the past, present and future development of IAQ in Hong Kong. Representatives of organisations that have been participating in the Scheme for 20 years also shared with audiences their experiences in maintaining good IAQ, and provided insights on the adoption of new IAQ objectives for certification.

     â€‹Organisations or individuals interested in joining or having a better understanding of the Scheme can obtain more information from the IAQ Information Centre or via its dedicated website www.iaq.gov.hk.