Author Archives: hksar gov

     A two-day blood donation drive is being held at the Central Government Offices from today (July 18) to encourage government employees to support the call of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) by donating blood regularly to save lives.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, together with the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, and colleagues of various policy bureaux, visited the blood donation venue to show the Government’s enthusiastic support.

     The BTS, which provides blood to all public and private hospitals in Hong Kong for patients’ use, is currently conducting blood collection exercises at various government departments. In the next few months, the BTS will arrange for blood donation to take place at different government departments as well as collaborate with some government departments and offices to organise events for public participation.
  
     Mr Cheung said, “With an ageing population, the demand for blood supply will constantly increase. In 2017, the total figures of donor attendance and successful blood collection dropped by around 5 per cent as compared with 2016 levels. Furthermore, 22 per cent of donations from prospective donors were deferred for various reasons, with more than half of such deferrals due to low haemoglobin levels among donors.

     “There is no substitute for blood, and the shelf life of blood is limited. The BTS needs regular blood donation by the public in order to ensure a sufficient blood supply for needy patients for daily transfusions. A single donation can help three or more patients.”

     Mr Cheung stressed that the Government will continue to support the blood donation drive and assist the BTS in promoting blood donation.
 
     Led by Professor Chan, more than 50 staff of the Food and Health Bureau attended this morning’s event.

     The Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Professor John Leong, and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Leung Pak-yin, also attended the blood donation drive this morning. They expressed appreciation for the support of government employees in donating blood to help people in need.

     By using the mobile app “HK Blood”, members of the public can easily look up their blood donation record, make a blood donation appointment, find the locations of Blood Donor Centres and Mobile Blood Collection Teams and receive the latest news about blood donation.

     A sustained and stable blood supply is only possible with the support of all sectors of the community. For details of the Blood Donor Centres, please visit the BTS’ website www.ha.org.hk/rcbts or enquire at 2710 1234.
 

          

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, will visit Shenzhen on July 20. The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong; the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip; and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, will also join the visit.

     Mrs Lam will meet with leaders of the Shenzhen Municipal Government and visit a technology enterprise to learn about developments in areas such as smart city and smart healthcare. She will also visit Longgang District, where she will meet with Hong Kong people who have set up businesses there and tour the Robot Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

     Mrs Lam will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon on the same day. During her absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will be Acting Chief Executive. read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 is 103.4 (up 0.5 against yesterday’s index). read more

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) is supporting the Asian Summer Film Festival in Vic, Spain, being held from July 17 to 22.   

     At a business reception hosted in Vic by HKETO, Brussels yesterday (July 17, Vic time), the Assistant Representative of the Office, Mr Paul Leung, warmly congratulated the Asian Summer Film Festival on its 15th anniversary. He thanked the organisers for their efforts over the years in presenting Hong Kong films to Spanish audiences.   

     “Hong Kong’s films have brought pleasure, excitement and inspiration to millions of viewers around the world, including in Spain. Our film industry is just like Hong Kong – it is multifaceted, unique, energetic and very international. By promoting Hong Kong films in Vic, we hope that more Spanish friends would get to see the artistic side of Hong Kong as a colourful city full of arts and culture,” Mr Leung said.

     The Asian Summer Film Festival features 37 films, of which 13 are Hong Kong productions or co-productions.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (July 18) the Open Application Programming Interface (Open API) Framework for the Hong Kong banking sector. At the same time, the HKMA announced the launch of Open API on its official website on July 23, 2018 to provide convenient access by the public.
 
     The formulation of the Open API Framework is one of the seven initiatives announced by the HKMA in September 2017 to prepare Hong Kong to move into a new era of Smart Banking. Open API can help to ensure the competitiveness of the banking sector, encourage more parties to provide innovative and integrated services that improve customer experience, and keep up with worldwide development on the delivery of banking services.
 
     During the consultation, the HKMA received 41 responses from banks, technology/fintech firms, industry associations, consulting firms, payment card scheme operators, individuals and other interested organisations. All respondents were supportive of the HKMA’s policy direction in developing an Open API Framework. Some respondents have sought clarification or requested more details on the Framework particularly on the engagement with Third Party Service Providers (TSPs). A summary of the comments received during the public consultation and the HKMA’s responses can be found in the Summary of Consultation at Annex 1. Taking into consideration the comments received, the HKMA has revised and published today the Framework as Annex 2.
 
     The Framework takes a risk-based principle and a four-phase* approach to implement various Open API functions, and recommends prevailing international technical standards to ensure fast adoption and security. It also lays out detailed expectations on how banks should onboard and maintain relationship with TSPs in a manner that ensures consumer protection. The HKMA believes that the Framework will serve as an important guide for the banking industry in Hong Kong to adopt APIs effectively and strike a good balance between innovation and risks.
 
     With release of the Framework, the HKMA expects banks to deploy Phase I Open APIs within 6 months and Phase II Open APIs within 12 to 15 months. Upon receiving the deployment roadmaps from banks, the HKMA plans to publish a summary of roadmaps of the Open API functions from the banks for reference by the market. The HKMA will work closely with the industry in the next 12 months on the deployment timeline for Phase III and IV Open APIs, taking into account implementation progress of Phase I and II, and international development. We will publish a timetable in due course. The HKMA will closely monitor the Open API adoption progress, and looks forward to working with the industry and market participants to develop a healthy banking Open API ecosystem.
 
     While promoting the wide adoption of Open API by the banking industry in Hong Kong, the HKMA sets an example by launching Open API on its official website on July 23, 2018. Around 130 sets of information covering all financial data and important information published on the HKMA’s website will be made available for Open API by phases. On the day of launch, 50 sets of financial data and important information will be opened via API. These cover the information most frequently accessed by the public, such as statistics on Hong Kong dollar exchange rates, interest rates, the banking sector and the Exchange Fund, as well as press releases and Coin Cart schedule. The remaining 80 sets of information will be opened via API by phases for completion by mid-2019. With the launch of HKMA’s Open API, stakeholders and members of the public can retrieve information and data from the HKMA’s website in a more convenient and efficient way for research purpose or for developing new applications.
 
      The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Norman Chan, said, “Open API is one small step for a bank, but a milestone for financial innovation in the banking sector. We hope that the Framework will provide specific guidance to enable collaboration between banks and TSPs, and ultimately bring new experience of innovative, convenient and safe banking services to customers. The HKMA is leading by example through making available a range of financial data and important information on the HKMA’s website in Open API format, in order to facilitate flexible retrieval and application of such information by stakeholders and the general public.”

*The four phases of Open API are: Phase I Product information; Phase II Customer acquisition; Phase III Account information; and Phase IV Transactions. read more