The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 22 open meetings during the week from March 25 to 30 in the LegCo Complex. Details of the meetings are available in the meeting schedule attached.
 
     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change.  Please refer to the "LegCo Calendar" on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to observe open meetings of LegCo and its Committees. Interested individuals and groups are advised to make advance booking of seats by calling the LegCo Secretariat at 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also listen to or watch all open meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, officiated at the Youth Entrepreneurship Sharing Session cum Kick-off Ceremony for the New Funding Schemes under the Youth Development Fund today (March 22). He commended corporates and organisations which have participated or organised relevant youth entrepreneurship projects and announced the launching of new funding schemes by the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and new projects of the Space Sharing Scheme for Youth (SSSY).

     At the Kick-off Ceremony, Mr Cheung reviewed the progress and achievements of the Government's initiatives in supporting youth entrepreneurship. The Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) established the YDF in 2016. The YDF has provided financial assistance for nine non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the first round of applications to support about 100 youth start-up projects, covering innovation and technology, retail, professional services, catering and other industries. About 190 young entrepreneurs were supported by the YDF.

     As for the SSSY, since its launch in 2017, seven properties have commenced operation and are running in full swing, supporting young entrepreneurs from sectors including innovation and technology, creative industries, digital media and social enterprises, as well as young artists working in the entertainment and media art industries. Each shared space is thoughtfully designed by the property owners and operating agencies to provide working space at concessionary rental and a wide spectrum of entrepreneurial support to help young people start their own businesses.

     Moreover, the Hong Kong United Youth Association, in collaboration with the HAB and using its own resources, launched a pilot scheme in late 2018 to encourage young Hong Kong people to utilise entrepreneurial bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Seven teams of youth entrepreneurs have been selected so far to settle in the entrepreneurial bases in Shenzhen.

     Mr Cheung expressed his gratitude to all property owners and operating agencies participating in the SSSY for fulfilling social responsibilities through concrete action, through which young Hong Kong entrepreneurs and artists have been able to enjoy quality working space and support services at concessionary rental for unleashing their creativity and expanding their businesses. Mr Cheung announced that five projects would be rolled out under the SSSY, with three property owners having just confirmed their partnering operators/operation models, and two property owners having recently decided to support the scheme.

     He said, "The Government will carry on with the tripartite partnership among the community, the Government and the business sector and actively liaise with property owners and NGOs interested in joining the scheme, so as to create more opportunities for youth innovation and entrepreneurship."

     Mr Cheung said that one of the eight policy measures introduced by the Central Government for taking forward the development of the Greater Bay Area is to encourage youth innovation and entrepreneurship. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government endeavours to provide room for development, subsidies and support measures for young Hong Kong talents in innovation and entrepreneurship, with a view to developing the Greater Bay Area as a world-class international platform for innovation and entrepreneurship. In view of the announcement in the Chief Executive's 2018 Policy Address to make an injection into the YDF, the Youth Development Commission (YDC) has decided to roll out two new funding schemes thereunder. Details are as follows:

(1) Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: The funding scheme consists of two components, namely entrepreneurial support and incubation services, and start-up capital. The services component aims to subsidise NGOs in Hong Kong to offer deeper, broader, more specific and sustainable entrepreneurial support and incubation services for young Hong Kong people, including helping them settle in youth innovation and entrepreneurship bases in Hong Kong and Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. The funding limit for each service project is $1 million per year and for a maximum of three years. For the start-up capital component (previously known as the Entrepreneurship Matching Fund under the YDF), it aims to provide youth start-ups with seed funding through subsidising NGOs and requiring the NGOs to provide matching funds, thus further addressing the youth start-ups' initial capital needs when starting businesses in Hong Kong and Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. The matching ratio is 3:1. The ceiling of the government subsidy for each NGO applicant is $4.5 million, to be matched with $1.5 million of funding from the NGO. Each start-up may receive a capital subsidy of up to $600,000, comprising $450,000 of government subsidy and $150,000 of matching contribution from the NGO.

(2) Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: The scheme aims to subsidise eligible NGOs in Hong Kong to organise short-term experiential programmes at the innovation and entrepreneurial bases in Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area, with a view to enriching Hong Kong young people's understanding of the entrepreneurial bases in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area, as well as the relevant policies and supporting measures on innovation and entrepreneurship in the Mainland. This will in turn assist the young people to consider settling in the relevant entrepreneurial bases and starting businesses therein in the future. The funding limit for each experiential programme is $700,000.

     The two funding schemes under the YDF are now inviting applications from eligible NGOs. The application period will close on May 30, 2019. Details of the schemes and the application guidelines have been uploaded to the YDC's website (www.ydc.gov.hk/ydf/en).

      

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) is today (March 22) investigating a case of severe paediatric influenza A infection.

     The case involves a 1-month-old boy with good past health, who has presented with runny nose, vomiting, drowsiness and seizure since March 16. He was taken to the Accident and Emergency Department of Tseung Kwan O Hospital for medical attention on March 16 and was admitted. He was transferred to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital on the same day for further management.
 
     His nasopharyngeal swab tested positive for influenza A (H3) virus upon laboratory testing. The clinical diagnosis was influenza A infection complicated with encephalopathy. He is now in a stable condition.

     Initial enquiries revealed that the patient had no travel history during the incubation period. His elder sister and grandfather developed upper respiratory tract infection symptoms recently and have sought medical attention. Both are in a stable condition and no hospitalisation is required. His other home contacts have remained asymptomatic so far.
 
     The CHP's investigations are ongoing.
  
     "The latest surveillance data showed that the local influenza activity has continued to decrease from the peak level in January but remained above the baseline threshold. We urge the community to continue heightening its vigilance against seasonal influenza. As young children are particularly affected in this influenza season, we appeal to parents who have not yet arranged vaccination for their children in this season to do so as soon as possible to strengthen their personal protection," a spokesman for the CHP said.

     Apart from children, people aged 50 to 64 years, the elderly and those with underlying illnesses who have not yet received influenza vaccination this season are also urged to get vaccinated as early as possible to prevent seasonal influenza as it takes about two weeks for antibodies to develop in the body after vaccination. Medical advice should be sought promptly if influenza-like symptoms develop so that appropriate treatment can be initiated as early as possible to prevent potential complications. Parents and carers are reminded to render assistance in prevention, care and control for vulnerable people.

     Besides receiving seasonal influenza vaccination as early as possible for personal protection, the public should maintain good personal and environmental hygiene for protection against influenza and other respiratory illnesses. For more information, please visit the CHP's influenza page and weekly Flu Express.

     The Hong Kong Flower Show at Victoria Park will close on Sunday (March 24). Featuring gorgeous landscape displays and beautiful floral arrangements, the flower show also offers a diverse range of fringe activities, including music and cultural performances, floral art demonstrations, green activities workshops and fun games, for the enjoyment of visitors of all ages.
 
     The fun-filled programmes being held on the park's central lawn include magic shows, balloon-twisting, face-painting, African drum playing, arts-and-crafts stalls, game stalls and more. Equally entertaining are the Jockey Club Community Green Playground and marching band performances. Visitors can also take a leisurely coffee break and enjoy music performances in the floral marquee, where entries of the plant exhibit competition are being displayed. A pop-up library providing books about aquaponics is also available.
 
     Other programmes in the showground include talks as well as music and dance performances. There will also be floral art demonstrations by masters from Japan and Hong Kong.
 
     The 10-minute light show will be held at 7.30pm and 8.30pm daily. The floral displays along the central axis will be enhanced with light and music effects to showcase the beauty of the showground during the day and at night.
 
     The Chinese hibiscus is the flower show's theme flower this year. After the show, Chinese hibiscus suitable for replanting and still in good condition will be distributed to the public at 10.30am next Monday (March 25) at the park's South Pavilion Plaza (near the Sugar Street entrance). It is expected that about 5 000 pots will be distributed depending on the conditions of the plants. Each person can get one pot on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last. To help protect the environment, members of the public are encouraged to bring their own bags.
 
     For enquiries, please call 2601 8260 or visit the flower show webpage www.hkflowershow.hk/en/hkfs/2019/index.html.
 
     The flower show is organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust is supporting the flower show for the seventh consecutive year and has been the show's Major Sponsor since 2014.

          

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

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Hong Leong Bank Berhad on phishing email, which has been reported to the HKMA. Hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website for ease of reference by members of the public.

     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the email concerned or has conducted any financial transactions through the email should contact the bank concerned using the contact information provided in the press release, and report to the Police or contact the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.