â€‹The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels partnered with Asia centre, an independent research institute based in France, held a seminar on the role of Hong Kong as an international financial centre in Paris on March 15 (Paris time). 

     Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Eddie Yue, was the keynote speaker of the seminar. In his address, Mr Yue highlighted the resilience of Hong Kong’s financial and monetary system and strong financial ecosystem, which have underpinned Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre. He also shared how Hong Kong is positioning itself to capture the opportunities arising from long-term trends, including the opening-up of Mainland China and the move towards sustainability and digitalisation. The other speaker was former Deputy Governor of the Banque de France Mr Jean-Pierre Landau.

     The event was attended by around 80 guests, including government officials and senior representatives from the financial, business and academic circles.

     Founded in 2005, Asia Centre is an independent research institute in France that holds discussion and issues publications on matters relating to international and economic relations.

    

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels supported the setting up of a pop-up store in Paris, France, to promote Hong Kong design.
 
     Speaking at the cocktail reception at the pop-up store on March 14 (Paris time) in Paris, the Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Ms Shirley Yung remarked that "Hong Kong is committed to supporting creative industries including arts and design. Nurturing talents and bringing them to the global market is an important part of our efforts in developing Hong Kong as an international cultural hub".
 
     The "Hong Kong Pop-up Design à Paris" is initiated by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, presenting the works of 11 new Hong Kong designers, ranging from clothing to jewellery and other accessories.
 
     In addition, the store also presented a diversified cultural scene of Hong Kong, with a series of miniature drawings by Lam Yan-kiu, as well as the exhibition of "Wanderers' Land – Cityscapes in Hong Kong" by Pen So, curated by the Hong Kong Arts Centre.
 
     The pop-up store is located in the design area of Paris at 9, rue du Marché Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris and will be open to the public until March 25.

        

     Hong Kong Customs today (March 15) seized about 1.2 kilograms of suspected cocaine and about 260 grams of suspected crack cocaine with a total estimated market value of about $1.4 million in Kwai Chung. A man suspected to be connected with the case was arrested.

     During an anti-narcotics operation conducted in the vicinity of Kwai Chung today afternoon, Customs officers intercepted a 30-year-old man and found about 1.2kg of suspected cocaine inside a recycle bag carried by him. He was then arrested. Customs officers later escorted the arrested man to his rented flat nearby for a search, and further seized about 260g of suspected crack cocaine and a batch of drug packaging paraphernalia.

     An investigation is ongoing.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Pok Oi Hospital (POH) announced a sentinel event involving the histological testing result today (March 15):

     A female patient with post-menopausal bleeding, had a uterine tissue biopsy at the POH on January 5 for diagnosis and treatment planning. The biopsy investigation result indicated the patient was with endometrial cancer. The patient received an operation at Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) on February 26 to remove the uterus, bilateral fallopian tubes, bilateral ovaries, and pelvic lymph nodes. The operation was uneventful, and the patient was discharged four days after the surgery.

     After the operation, the hospital conducted a pathological examination of the patient's excised uterine tissue, and no cancer cell was found. As the pathology result was inconsistent with the previous test results, hence the Department of Clinical Pathology conducted a review. The hospital performed genetic testing (DNA) on the specimens, which revealed that the specimen taken on January 5 contained tissue from another patient diagnosed with cancer, leading to a deviation in the results.

     The hospital is highly concerned about the incident and has reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office (HAHO) through the Advance Incident Reporting System. After a preliminary review of the laboratory processing records and CCTV footage, the hospital suspected that during the process, the patient's specimen was mixed with a specimen containing cancer cells from another patient. The hospital had reviewed the specimen from other patients taken on the same day and did not find similar situations thus far. The hospital has reminded staff in relevant departments to strictly adhere to established guidelines when handling patient specimen.

     The hospital has met with the patient and family members today to explain the incident in details and express the sincerest apologies to the patient and her family. The hospital will continue to closely follow up on the patient's clinical condition. A Root Cause Analysis (RCA) panel has been set up to investigate the root cause of the incident and make recommendations for improvement. The investigation report will be submitted to the HAHO in eight weeks. The composition of the RCA panel is as follows:
 
Chairperson:
Dr Alice Chan
Consultant, Department of Pathology, Kwong Wah Hospital
 
Members:
Dr Hau Lap-man
Service Director, Quality and Safety, New Territories West Cluster
 
Dr Mak Siu-ming
Chief of Service, Clinical Pathology, Tuen Mun Hospital/Pok Oi Hospital/Tin Shui Wai Hospital
 
Dr Cheuk Wah
Deputy Chief of Service, Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
 
Dr Nicole Chau
Senior Manager (Patient Safety & Risk Management), Quality & Safety Division, Hospital Authority Head Office
 
Mr Wong Chi-keung
Department Manager, Pathology, United Christian Hospital

     Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the GS1 Hong Kong 35th Anniversary Gala Dinner today (March 15):
 
May (Chairman of GS1 Hong Kong Board, Ms May Chung), Roy (Vice Chairman of GS1 Hong Kong Board, Mr Roy Ng), Sai-hung (Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung), 崔峰巡視員 (Second-level inspector of the Department of Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Cui Feng), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good evening.
 
     It is a great pleasure to join you – some 600 leaders, innovators and high-profile professionals from the supply chain management industry and industry associations, as well as retailers, e-tailers and distributors, and more – at the 35th anniversary of GS1 Hong Kong.
 
     Like you, I'm here to applaud GS1 Hong Kong's remarkable efforts and achievements in revolutionising business management practices. Since introducing global barcode standards for product identification in 1989, GS1 Hong Kong has been the industry's forerunner in bringing barcode systems to just about every segment of our society and daily life. 
 
     Three decades have passed, and the number of barcode scans in Hong Kong has reached an astonishing 3.5 billion annually. And of course, your efforts and positive impact have gone well beyond barcodes.
 
     Today, we are living in an increasingly digitalised world where data is quickly transforming our life and how business is conducted. For businesses to survive and grow, they must embrace this dramatic change and ride the tide of the digital economy. I am pleased to note that as a pioneer in supply chain standards and solutions, GS1 Hong Kong is making great strides in assisting businesses, particularly SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), to move forward. Through promotion of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics, businesses are geared up to optimise operation efficiency and tap opportunities in the market.
 
     One example is your QR code system, which enables tracing of product information from production to sale, to ESG (environmental, social and governance) credentials, and more. That not only benefits businesses as they could know what happened in the supply chain; but also consumers who are eager to know a product's carbon footprint or origin of components. Another example is your smart operations solutions that enable companies to better monitor and control their operations and logistics through the IoT and real-time data.
 
Building a robust digital economy
 
     Ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that we must work to harness the enormous opportunities offered by the digital economy. It is indeed an essential element of our drive for high-quality development. 
 
     That's why in my Budget two years ago, I decided to set up the Digital Economy Development Committee, or DEDC. It has enlisted industry experts to advise us on Hong Kong's road ahead. 
 
     After two years of in-depth research and hard work, the DEDC has come up with 12 core recommendations, covering five main areas. They include:
 

• strengthening the overall digital economy policy of Hong Kong;
• enhancing digital infrastructure;
• promoting data as the key driver of digital economy;
• expediting digital transformation; and
• nurturing talent.

     I am pleased to say that many of the recommendations have been, and will be, turned into policies and actions. Some of them have already been outlined in the Chief Executive's Policy Address last year, and this year's Budget. For example, setting up a Digital Policy Office to be responsible for formulating policies on digital government, data governance and information technology. It will consolidate the Government's IT (information technology) resources and know-how for delivering more government digital services.

     Meanwhile, to facilitate the digital transformation of SMEs, we will soon roll out a funding scheme to support those in the F&B (food and beverage) and retail industries to use off-the-shelf digital solutions in e-payment, shopfront sales, online promotion and customer management. It is expected that at least 8,000 SMEs will benefit.
 
     We also eye the building of a robust data trading ecosystem. Hong Kong is a unique place that converges data from the Mainland and the world. We have the advantages under the "one country, two systems", be they the rule of law, free flow of data, information, capital and people, or alignment with best international business practices. They provide very favourable conditions for international data trading.
 
     For all these endeavours, and much more to come, I count on the insight, experience and advice of GS1 Hong Kong and other industry organisations. Please continue your invaluable work that will help Hong Kong march forward.
 
     Once again, my congratulations to GS1 Hong Kong on this landmark 35th anniversary. As your anniversary theme makes clear, there are "Infinite Opportunities Ahead" for Hong Kong. For all of us.

     â€‹Thank you.