The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (April 25) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of low-patho… read more
A spokesman for the Housing Department (HD) today (April 25) reminded residents of public rental housing (PRH) estates to declare truthfully their income and assets.
A PRH resident living at Tin Heng Estate in Tin Shui Wai declared on a 2018 Income and Asset Declaration Form to have no domestic property ownership in Hong Kong and that the total household net asset value did not exceed 100 times the prevailing PRH Income Limit (the asset limit for that household was $2.4 million). Subsequent investigation revealed that the resident owned four domestic properties in Hong Kong at the time of declaration and the estimated market value was about $11.26 million.
The defendant was prosecuted by the HD for making a false statement knowingly, contrary to Section 26(1)(a) of the Housing Ordinance. The defendant was previously convicted by the presiding magistrate in Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Courts, who considered a fine punishment could not reflect the gravity of the offence. After making reference to the probation report, the defendant was sentenced 160 hours’ community service order today.
The spokesman said that households living in PRH should complete their income and asset declaration forms accurately, which forms the foundation for the assessment of rent and their eligibility for continuing residence. Before making the declarations, households should read the content and completion guidelines of the income and asset declaration form carefully and compute their income and assets in accordance with the methods specified. Otherwise, they may be prosecuted for making a false statement knowingly, contrary to Section 26(1)(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for six months) or be prosecuted for neglecting to furnish information as specified in a declaration form, contrary to Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $25,000 fine and imprisonment for three months).
Notwithstanding the above, the HD will take action to recover the undercharged rent incurred due to the inaccurate information. According to the revised “Well-off Tenants Policies” endorsed in December 2016, PRH households with domestic property ownership in Hong Kong or their total household net asset value exceeding 100 times the prevailing PRH Income Limit, irrespective of their levels of household income, will be required to vacate their PRH flats. read more
The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Thursday, April 25, 2019 is 103.9 (up 0.1 against yesterday’s index). read more
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, at the thematic forum on economic and trade co-operation zone promotion of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing this morning (April 25):
Thank you, Professor Ge (Director of the Nankai Institute of International Economics of Nankai University, Professor Ge Shunqi).
Speaking of the advantages of Hong Kong, I think what Hong Kong can offer to the economic zones along the Belt and Road can be summarised into three points: first is financing; second is professional services; and third, looking ahead, might be I&T (innovation and technology).
Hong Kong is no stranger to all these economic and trade co-operation zones along the Belt and Road, although you may not necessarily notice many Hong Kong company names along the way. As the previous speaker talked about the Belarus industrial zone (China-Belarus Industrial Park), he mentioned companies like the China Merchants Group (CMG). I can see the CEO, Mr Li (Chairman of China Merchants Group Limited, Mr Li Jianhong) sitting over there. These companies, while their names bear the China characters, are at the same time Hong Kong companies. The CMG, for instance, has been in Hong Kong for over a hundred years, and is one of the listed companies in Hong Kong.
Our presence in these industrial zones and commercial zones along the Belt and Road is in fact serving Hong Kong’s critical role as the financier. In this time and age, many of these projects involve major infrastructural developments. They are mega projects beyond the financing capability of a single company or a single nation, so the question of how to finance these projects is an important one, and Hong Kong as a global financial centre is there to serve this role. We are also China’s biggest offshore Renminbi centre.
The second contribution that we can make is on professional services. Before we talk about financing when there is actual money coming in, you need first of all professional services’ input, during and after the development of all these zones. In striking a deal, assessing, managing and minimising risks so as to minimise the cost of financing is a prerequisite. All these involve a wide range of professional services from legal, insurance and accounting to business consulting. These are commonly available in the city of Hong Kong. And these professional services are not just home grown, they also include international firms having their foothold in Hong Kong.
That brings me to my third point. While we are seeing that many of these trade and economic zones are heavily focused on infrastructure and manufacturing to start with, nothing would prevent these zones from developing into I&T hubs, as we talk about moving further outwards to logistics, trade and e-commerce. And that’s where I&T comes in.
Hong Kong together with our neighbouring cities including Macao and the nine cities adjacent to us in Guangdong Province form ourselves into the Greater Bay Area, which is in fact the major I&T hub in this part of the world taking advantage of Hong Kong being the research centre, and the neighbouring cities with advanced manufacturing and prototyping capabilities. Together, we provide the third contribution in addition to financing and professional services, which is the I&T solution.
In brief, what Hong Kong can offer is not just from the city of Hong Kong. We can go beyond being a financial centre, but also leverage on the diversified network we have, and make good use of the strength of professional services and embarking further onto I&T development. So I think we stand ready to contribute in our small ways and hopefully that will make some differences.
Thank you.
The Buildings Department approved 27 building plans in February, with nine on Hong Kong Island, seven in Kowloon and 11 in the New Territories.
Of the approved plans, 11 were for apartment and apartment/commercial developments, six were for commercial developments, two were for factory and industrial developments, and eight were for community services developments.
In the same month, consent was given for works to start on 13 building projects which, when completed, will provide 139 959 square metres of gross floor area for domestic use involving 1 357 units, and 60 933 sq m of gross floor area for non-domestic use. The department has received notification of commencement of works for six building projects.
The department also issued 17 occupation permits, with six on Hong Kong Island, three in Kowloon and eight in the New Territories.
Of the buildings certified for occupation, the gross floor area for domestic use was 3 820 sq m involving 118 units, and 177 703 sq m was for non-domestic use.
The declared cost of new buildings completed in February totalled about $5.9 billion.
In addition, four demolition consents involving four building structures were issued.
The department received 1 923 reports about unauthorised building works (UBWs) in February and issued 964 removal orders on UBWs.
The full version of the Monthly Digest for February can be viewed on the Buildings Department’s homepage (www.bd.gov.hk). read more