â€‹Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced today (April 12) that its client, Mainland travel mobile apps developer Huoli Tian Hui Technology Co Ltd (Huoli), opened its regional headquarters in Hong Kong to tap into the huge international market.

    The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang of congratulated the opening of Huoli's regional headquarters in Hong Kong. He said, "The city is a business hub for multinational companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. It has a sophisticated high-tech infrastructure with tech professionals, attracting leading software services companies to set up its regional base here. We wish Huoli every success in Hong Kong and beyond."

     Established in 2005 in Shenzhen, Huoli is a national high-tech enterprise that has launched its travel mobile apps and big data solutions across flight, railway and shuttle services. The Director of Marketing and Public Relations Department of Huoli, Mr Zhou Menghao, said, "As the global economy is gradually recovering, and as our operation continues to grow, there is an increasing demand for overseas travel products. We believe that this is the right time to use Hong Kong to expand our overseas business."

     He said, "Hong Kong as an international city has unique competitive advantages in globalisation and innovation. The city is one of the world's leading capital markets with its well-developed financial, trade, tourism and information industries. It is not only an ideal place for us to develop global tourism products by using artificial intelligence, but also the best springboard for Mainland enterprises to go global."

     "We will use Hong Kong as our regional base to smoothen overseas procurement processes, diversify overseas transaction and channels, as well as enhance procurement bargaining power. This will be very helpful in stabilising our supply, assuring quality, and reducing cost," he added.

     To get a copy of the photo, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720316145593.

     For more information about Huoli, please visit www.huoli.com.

  

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met with the visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies of Singapore, Mr Heng Swee Keat, today (April 12). Also present at the meeting were the Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong; the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms Carol Yip; and the Consul General of Singapore in Hong Kong, Mr Ong Siew Gay.
      
     Mr Lee said he is pleased to meet with Mr Heng in Hong Kong again since they last met during his visit to Singapore in July last year. Noting that Hong Kong and Singapore have long enjoyed a close relationship, Mr Lee said Singapore has consistently been Hong Kong's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the bilateral trade in goods between the two places in 2023 amounted to HK$394.7 billion. He added that Hong Kong will continue to make every effort to strengthen multifaceted co-operation with Singapore, in particular in the areas of green and digital economies and other emerging industries.
      
     Mr Lee also expressed his gratitude to Singapore for its continued support for Hong Kong's early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, with a view to making greater contributions to regional co-operation and creating impetus for growth in Hong Kong.
      
     Mr Lee noted that China-Singapore relations have been upgraded to an All Round High Quality Future Oriented Partnership last year. He pointed out that under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. Hong Kong will give full play to its role as a "super connector" and "super value-adder", thereby contributing to the promotion of mutually beneficial economic growth between the country and Singapore.
 

  

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

     â€‹The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by UnionPay International on UnionPay App-related phishing messages and fraudulent websites, which have been reported to the HKMA.

     The fraudulent website links reported by the retail payment system (RPS) operator known at the time are as follows:
 
www[.]unionpaymo[.]com
www[.]u-nionpaymo[.]com
www[.]mounionpay[.]com
www[.]unionpmpay[.]com
www[.]unionmpay[.]vip
www[.]unionrpay[.]com
www[.]unimonpay[.]club
 
     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that anyone who has provided his or her personal information or account credentials, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the instant messages or websites concerned, should contact the RPS operator, and report to the Police or contact the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre of the Police at 18222.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (April 12) the key analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund at the end of March 2024.
      
     Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, decreased during the month by HK$11.7 billion to HK$3,521.2 billion.
      
     The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government‑issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$1,918.1 billion.
      
     Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$299.2 billion.
      
     Foreign liabilities amounted to HK$22.2 billion.
      
     The analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).

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     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's SDDS. The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of April 2024, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

     The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Kwu Tung South Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). 
      
     "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Kwu Tung South area", a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (April 12). 
      
     The planning scheme area, covering about 525 hectares, is bounded by the Hong Kong Golf Club in the east, Fanling Highway in the north, Ki Lun Shan (Hadden Hill) in the west and the Lam Tsuen Country Park in the south.

     The approved OZP has incorporated the amendments shown on the draft Kwu Tung South OZP No. S/NE-KTS/19, which mainly involves (i) stipulation of Area (a), Area (b) and building height restrictions for a "Comprehensive Development Area" ("CDA") zone to the north of Hang Tau Village fronting Hang Tau Road and (ii) rezoning a site to the south of Kwu Tung Road and to the west of Hang Tau Road from "CDA", "Agriculture" and an area shown as 'Road' to "CDA(3)" with stipulation of building height restriction for residential development.
      
     The Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP are amended to take into account the above amendments. Opportunity is also taken to update the general information of various land use zones and the planning circumstances, where appropriate. 
      
     The approved Kwu Tung South OZP No. S/NE-KTS/20 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Fanling, Sheung Shui and Yuen Long East District Planning Office, (iv) the North District Office and (v) the Sheung Shui District Rural Committee.
      
     Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.tpb.gov.hk).