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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (November 1) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Stock Transfers) Bill 2023 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.

     The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Disposal Gain by Holder of Qualifying Equity Interests) Bill 2023, the Supplementary Appropriation (2022-2023) Bill and the Waterworks (Amendment) Bill 2023 will also be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bills will be adjourned.

     On Member's Bill, the Second Reading debate on the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 2023 will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.

     On Members' motions, Ms Starry Lee will move a motion on implementing patriotic education in greater depth and breadth. The motion is set out in Appendix 1. Mr Lee Chun-keung, Mr Stanley Ng and Dr Hoey Simon Lee will move separate amendments to Ms Lee's motion.

     Ms Lam So-wai will also move a motion on improving policies and measures relating to family support. The motion is set out in Appendix 2. Mr Stanley Li will move separate amendment to Ms Lam's motion.

     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (October 30) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Kandiyohi County, Blue Earth County and Redwood County of the State of Minnesota, Buena Vista County of the State of Iowa, and Spink County of the State of South Dakota in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 21 470 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 57.11 million poultry eggs from the US in the first nine months of this year.

     â€‹"The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (October 30) that hire charges for holding wedding ceremonies in six selected leisure venues under the LCSD will be adjusted starting from February 1, 2024.

     The new hire charges for outdoor and indoor leisure venues are as follows:
 

* The charge is on hourly basis for even less than an hour

     "The LCSD has since February 2007 opened up six selected leisure venues with distinctive characteristics for hire by members of the public as wedding venues. The level of hire charges has remained unchanged since the adjustment in 2016. Following a comprehensive review, the department will adjust the charges so as to reflect the current costs in the provision of the services," a spokesman for the department said.

     Details of the booking procedures and relevant information can be found on the designated website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/wedding/index.html.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (October 30) released the "e-HKD Pilot Programme Phase 1 Report" to discuss the key findings, learnings, and the HKMA's assessment of 14 pilots conducted by the 16 participating firms (see Annex) under Phase 1 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme. The report also sets out the next steps of the e-HKD Pilot Programme.
      
     The pilots under Phase 1 showed that an e-HKD could add unique value to the current payment ecosystem in Hong Kong in three main areas, these include programmability, tokenisation, and atomic settlement. An e-HKD has the potential to facilitate faster, more cost-efficient, and more inclusive transactions. It can also enable new types of economic transactions. However, the HKMA recognises that these pilots are conducted on a small scale under a controlled environment. Further investigation and evaluation are required to determine if these benefits can be realised at a larger scale in real-life applications.
      
     The HKMA has not yet made a decision on whether and when to introduce an e-HKD. The outcomes and insights gained from Phase 1 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme will help enrich the HKMA's perspective and refine its approach to the possible implementation of e-HKD. The next phase of the programme will seek to explore new use cases for an e-HKD and delve deeper into select pilots from Phase 1.
      
     The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue, said, "Phase 1 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme has examined many innovative use cases of an e-HKD and has provided valuable insight to the HKMA on how an e-HKD can potentially add tangible value to businesses and consumers. These pilots have also raised a number of areas for future study. We thank all participating firms for their strong interest in the programme, and look forward to continuing our close partnership with the industry in our exploration of central bank digital currencies."
      
     The report is available on the HKMA website. Details of each pilot can be found in the factsheets and supplementary reports prepared by the pilot participants, accessible via the links in Appendix A of the report.

     â€‹Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) hosted a seminar in Zibo, Shandong Province today (October 30), encouraging Shandong enterprises to make use of Hong Kong's business advantages and opportunities amid the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) development to go global.
               
     Entitled "Seminar on Business Advantages of Hong Kong: Enablers of Economic and Trade Co-operation with Shandong", the event was co-organised by InvestHK, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai (SHETO) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Commercial Office of Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government (LOCPG) in the HKSAR, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of People's Government of Shandong Province, the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province, and the People's Government of Zibo Municipality. It was also supported by the United Front Work Department of Communist Party of China (CPC) Zibo Municipal Committee, and the Commerce Bureau of Zibo.
               
     The seminar began with welcoming remarks by the Acting Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Dr Jimmy Chiang; Second-level Inspector from the Commercial Office of Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR Mr Yan Yongqing; the Director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of People's Government of Shandong Province, Mr Zhang Liansan; Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province Mr Cui Hongguang, and the Minister of the United Front Work Department of CPC Zibo Municipal Committee, Mr Gai Weixing. The Director of the SHETO, Mrs Laura Aron, also attended the event.
          
     Dr Chiang said, "Hong Kong has already been stepping up its efforts to seize the opportunities arising from the national key strategies including the National 14th Five-Year Plan, the GBA development, and the B&RI. Under 'one country, two systems', Hong Kong continues to integrate into the overall development of the country, by reinforcing its traditional status as an international financial, transportation and trade centre, as well as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. The city is also moving full steam to develop its new positioning in the emerging centres, namely international aviation hub, international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, regional intellectual property trading centre, and East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. Shandong enterprises can make good use of Hong Kong's financial, logistics, trade, legal and other professional services, as well as its advantages in aviation, I&T, intellectual property and culture and art fields to expand in new markets."
      
     Delivering his remarks, Mr Yan said, "Hong Kong has been the largest source of foreign direct investment in Shandong and its largest investment destination. The city is the most important platform for Shandong via which to open up to the world. The co-operation between Shandong and Hong Kong has strong complementarity with huge market growth potential in various industries. In the future, the two places will have bright prospect working together to build key industrial clusters and develop innovation economics. As the representative of the Ministry of Commerce in Hong Kong responsible for the economic and trade co-operation between the two places, the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR is willing to provide support and services for all Mainland enterprises, including Shandong enterprises, to invest in Hong Kong and expand to overseas markets via the city."
      
     Representing the Shandong Provincial Government authorities, Mr Zhang and Mr Cui told the audience that Shandong will continue to deepen the economic and trade co-operation with Hong Kong. They both encourage Shandong enterprises to use Hong Kong as a platform to go global.
      
     Representing the Zibo government authorities, Mr Gai presented the economic development of Zibo City at the seminar and the hope to strengthen economic, trade and cultural exchanges with Hong Kong.
          
     The Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of InvestHK in Shanghai, Mr Arthur Lam, introduced Hong Kong's business environment at the keynote speech and the diverse services InvestHK offers Mainland clients. The Chief Immigration Officer of the SHETO, Mr Ma Man-tak, also provided a briefing on Hong Kong's latest immigration schemes and services for Mainland residents.
      
     The Head of Mainland and GBA Business Development of InvestHK, Ms Loretta Lee, hosted a panel discussion on Shandong-Hong Kong economic and trade collaboration at the seminar with speakers including Senior Manager of Business Development of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) Mr Matt Hu; Vice President of Global Issuer Services of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Ms Sarah Zhang; and the Director, Tax and Business Advisory, Mergers and Acquisitions, Jinan Branch, Deloitte China, Ms Cathy Li. They discussed how HKSTP can assist Shandong companies to develop I&T in Hong Kong, how Shandong companies make good use of Hong Kong's listing and financing environment, and the reasons to conduct merges and acquisitions activities in the city. Vice President of Dongyue Fluorosilicone Science and Technology Co Ltd Mr Li Yuwen also shared experience in expanding their business in Hong Kong at the seminar.
          
     For photos of the seminar, please visit: www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720312312403.