The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     HKMC Insurance Limited (HKMCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, today (May 29) announces that, the enhancement measures to the 80 per cent and 90 per cent Guarantee Products under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme (SFGS) as included in the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund announced by the Government in April 2020 takes immediate effect. The measures include raising the maximum loan amount of the 80 per cent and 90 per cent Guarantee Products and extending the eligibility coverage to listed companies in Hong Kong, and will last for 12 months. In addition, both the existing guaranteed loans and new applications are eligible for an interest subsidy for a maximum period of 12 months, the payments of which will start to be made by the end of June this year.
 
     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said, “Businesses of many local enterprises are seriously affected by the COVID-19. In light of this, in addition to the Special 100 per cent Loan Guarantee launched earlier, we have further enhanced the 80 per cent and 90 per cent Guarantee Products under the SFGS, so that more enterprises affected by the COVID-19 can apply for guaranteed loans to alleviate their cash flow burden and tide over the current economic challenges.”
 
     Under the enhancement measures, the maximum loan amount per enterprise for the 80 per cent Guarantee Product is increased from $15 million to $18 million, while that for the 90 per cent Guarantee Product is increased from $6 million to $8 million. All borrowing enterprises under the scheme can benefit from the enhancements. The eligibility coverage of both guarantee products is extended to listed companies in Hong Kong. In addition, for the requirement of personal guarantee by individual shareholder(s) under the Special 100 per cent Loan Guarantee, applicable percentage of equity interest is reduced from over 70 per cent to over 50 per cent, which is in line with that for the 80 per cent and 90 per cent Guarantee Products.
 
     The Government will provide interest subsidy for the 80 per cent and 90 per cent guaranteed loans, with the amount of subsidy subject to a cap of three per cent.  Each loan is entitled to an interest subsidy for a maximum period of 12 months.  HKMCI has reached a consensus with the Government and the lenders on the implementation details as follows:
 

• All outstanding loans as of April 30, 2020 will receive the first batch of interest subsidy for up to three months, of which payment will be successively made starting from the end of June 2020 (Please refer to the Annex for details);
• The payment of subsequent interest subsidy will be made on a monthly basis thereafter;
• Interest subsidy is applicable to new loan applications successfully submitted before May 31, 2021.

 
     The payment of interest subsidy will be automatically deposited into relevant bank accounts, and no application is required.  This will provide more expeditious supports to the borrowing enterprises.  For public enquiries, please call the SFGS Hotline at 2536 0392.
 

     The application period for the Catering Business (Social Distancing) Subsidy Scheme under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund will end at 5pm on June 5 (Friday). Eligible food licence, liquor licence or karaoke establishment permit holders wishing to apply for the subsidy should submit their applications before the deadline.

     The Scheme opened for application on May 5. As of yesterday (May 28), over 7 100 applications had been received. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will process the applications as soon as possible so as to provide assistance to eligible licence holders promptly.

     The application form and guidelines can be downloaded from the website of the FEHD (www.fehd.gov.hk) or obtained from District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the department.

     For details of the Scheme, please visit the website of the FEHD.

     The Lands Department (LandsD) announced today (May 29) that a site, Sha Tin Town Lot No. 613 at the junction of Tsung Tau Ha Road and Kwei Tei Street, Sha Tin, New Territories, listed in the 2020-21 Land Sale Programme will be disposed of by public tender. The tender invitation for the lot will commence on June 5 and close on July 3.

     Sha Tin Town Lot No. 613 has a site area of about 9,178 square metres and the permissible uses are industrial; godown and ancillary office; office in direct support of an industrial operation; information technology and telecommunications industries; research, design and development centre; audio-visual recording studio; media design and media production; workshop for laundering, dry cleaning, tailoring or repair of goods; art studio; vehicle repair workshop, vehicle inspection centre or vehicle testing centre; cargo handling and forwarding facilities; showroom ancillary to factory; motor vehicle showroom on the ground floor; laboratory, inspection and testing centre; recyclable collection centre; the Public Vehicle Park; and a combination of any of the permissible uses. The minimum gross floor area and the maximum gross floor area are 52,315 sq m and 87,191 sq m respectively, both including the gross floor area of the Public Vehicle Park to be constructed by the purchaser under the Conditions of Sale.

     Land sale documents including the Form of Tender, the Tender Notice, the Conditions of Sale and the sale plan of the lot will be available for downloading from the LandsD website (www.landsd.gov.hk), and the sale plan will be available for distribution and inspection by the public from June 5, when the particulars of the tender will also be gazetted.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) today (May 29) published a biannual issue of Medication Safety Bulletin (MSB). This issue highlights the alerts issued by various overseas pharmaceutical regulatory bodies regarding the health risks of certain medications in the management of COVID-19 patients, and other drugs used by these patients.
 
     This issue also covers the experience of the New Territories East Cluster risk minimisation measures on Direct Oral Anticoagulants and the latest updates on two guidelines related to medication safety.
 
     The publication has already been posted on the web for sharing with healthcare professionals. Members of the public are also welcome to browse it at the following link: www.ha.org.hk/msb. MSB is published every six months, on the last Fridays of May and November. The next issue will be published on November 27.

     The Security Bureau today (May 29) held an inter-departmental table-top exercise at the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre in the Central Government Offices to test the Government's response capabilities for when Hong Kong is hit by a super typhoon.
 
     Earlier this year, the Hong Kong Observatory predicted that the typhoon season in 2020 may start in or after June in Hong Kong. The Government must heighten vigilance and be well prepared in order to cope with the potentially serious threats brought about by typhoons. Officers from more than 30 bureaux, departments and other external parties involved in the handling of natural disasters took part in the exercise. The exercise simulated a super typhoon scenario to test the preparedness, response and recovery capabilities as well as the decision-making process and interoperability of relevant government bureaux and departments, with a view to protecting citizens' lives and properties and helping them resume their daily lives promptly.
 
     The Government will assess the outcome of the exercise in order to enhance relevant bureaux and departments' general awareness and co-ordination in various aspects of contingency handling. The Government also urges citizens to take proper precautionary measures during the typhoon season, remain at safe places and pay close attention to the latest information released by the Government on typhoons.