Author Archives: hksar gov

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

     The Chairman of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Mr Tim Lui, welcomed the Chief Executive’s proposal of developing Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub in “The Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address”, and said that the UGC would work closely with the eight UGC-funded universities to take forward various relevant measures.
 
     Mr Lui said, “Thanks to the significant investment in higher education by the Government over the years, there are currently five universities in Hong Kong within the world’s top 100. We therefore possess ample advantages of developing into an international post-secondary education hub. The various initiatives proposed in the Policy Address can further attract more talent from all over the world to come to Hong Kong, and provide our local students with more learning opportunities to broaden their perspectives, thereby bringing Hong Kong’s higher education to new heights.”
 
     According to the relaxation measures announced in the Policy Address, the enrolment ceiling of non-local students of taught programmes (i.e. undergraduate degree, sub-degree and taught postgraduate degree programmes) of UGC-funded universities will be doubled from currently a level equivalent to 20 per cent of local student places to 40 per cent starting from the 2024/25 academic year. Universities may progressively admit more non-local students having regard to their own conditions. It should be noted that all non-local students of UGC-funded taught programmes do not receive public funding, and that the number of such non-local students is accounted for separately from local student places so as to ensure that study opportunities for local students will not be affected.
 
     The UGC also welcomed the 50 per cent increase in the quota of the Belt and Road Scholarship as well as other related initiatives by the Government. The UGC will further support universities’ participation in more publicity and recruitment activities at different places to proactively promote the unique advantages of Hong Kong’s higher education to the world. This will attract more outstanding students of different origins and cultural backgrounds to study in Hong Kong, and further enhance the quality, capacity and vibrancy of Hong Kong’s higher education sector.
 
     In addition, the UGC launched the Funding Scheme for Mainland and Global Engagement and Student Learning Experience last year for UGC-funded universities to support more students to participate in exchange activities outside Hong Kong, with emphasis on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to encourage students to set their sights on opportunities on the Mainland as well as to promote multicultural interactions on campus. From the 2023/24 academic year, the UGC will inject an additional funding of $100 million into the Funding Scheme to benefit more students who were unable to leave Hong Kong for exchange activities in the past few years due to the pandemic.
 
     Further to last year’s decision to gradually increase the number of publicly funded research postgraduate student places from 5 595 to 7 200 in each academic year, the Policy Address proposes to gradually increase the quota of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme to 400. The UGC believed that such move would attract more talent to study and conduct research in Hong Kong, thereby boosting Hong Kong’s research capability and achievements.
 
      “The various initiatives for building an international post-secondary education hub and developing the ‘Northern Metropolis University Town’ in the Northern Metropolis as announced in the Policy Address will inject unprecedented impetus for growth into Hong Kong’s higher education sector. The UGC will work together with our funded universities to seize the immense opportunities ahead, and contribute proactively towards realising the splendid vision of developing Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub,” Mr Lui added. read more

     A Government spokesman said today (October 25) that the physical office of Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) would formally be established on October 30 and render full support to the Government’s endeavours to trawl for and retain talents.

     Establishing HKTE is one of the new initiatives announced by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address today. HKTE provides support for incoming talents, formulates talent attraction strategies and follows up with their development and needs after arrival. HKTE will collaborate with organisations and stakeholders in various sectors to proactively attract global talents with diverse backgrounds to come and settle in Hong Kong and develop their careers, with a view to contributing to the long-term development of Hong Kong.

     The Director of HKTE is Mr Anthony Lau Chun-hon. He served as the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board from 2007 to 2019. He also held key positions in different business entities and made significant contributions to the promotion of the Hong Kong brand. Mr Lau leads HKTE to go all out to trawl for and retain talents to raise Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

  

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Kwun Tong this morning (October 25) in which an 83-year-old man died.      At about 10.22am, a minibus driven by a 70-year-old man was enteri… read more

     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, today (October 25) congratulated Yeung Hiu-lam on winning a gold medal in Boccia Women’s Individual BC2 event for the Hong Kong, China Delegation at the 4th Asian Para Games Hangzhou.
 
     Mr Yeung said, “Yeung remained in high spirits throughout the competitions and performed well even under stress. She is worthy of our respect for the efforts and dedication behind the gold medal. We are thrilled to see her achievements. I would also like to pay tribute to the coach and support team who make this happen.” read more

       In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
       For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt, and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
       As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
       From noon on October 24 to noon today (October 25), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 184 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
       In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
       The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website (www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
       From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 10 361 samples of food imported from Japan (including 6 825 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 3 058 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more