The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
 
     The meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Finance Committee (FC) originally scheduled at 3pm tomorrow (January 25) in Conference Room 1 of the LegCo Complex will start at 3.15 pm (or an earlier time between 3pm and 3.15 pm). If the preceding House Committee meeting ends before 3pm, the FC meeting will start at 3pm.

     The Antiquities and Monuments Office today (January 24) announced the opening arrangements for the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre (HKHDC) and the Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre during the Lunar New Year holidays. Details are as follows:
      
February 4 (Lunar New Year's Eve)
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The HKHDC will close at 5pm. The Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre will be closed as it will be its regular closing day.
 
February 5 and 6 (the first two days of the Lunar New Year)
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The two heritage centres will be closed.
 
February 7 (the third day of the Lunar New Year)
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The two heritage centres will resume the following normal opening hours:
 
The HKHDC: 10am to 7pm
The Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre: 10am to 5pm
 
     The two heritage centres will open as usual from the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (February 8).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     During the winter surge, the Hospital Authority (HA) is closely monitoring the service demand of Accident and Emergency Departments and the occupancy rate of medical wards in public hospitals. Key service statistics are being issued daily for public information. Details are in the appended table.
 
     In addition, the weekly bulletin "Surge in Brief" (appended) will be issued every Thursday to illustrate the trend of key service statistics in public hospitals in the past month. "Surge in Brief" can be accessed in the HA Winter Surge designated webpage (www.ha.org.hk/goto/wintersurge/en).

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (January 24) that due to big waves, the red flag has been hoisted at Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District.  Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, met with trade ministers and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland today (January 23, Davos time) to promote Hong Kong's strength as an international trading hub and to forge closer economic ties with Hong Kong's trading partners.
 
     "It is of paramount importance that Hong Kong maintains our presence at major international fora like the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Trade Organization meetings. They provide very good opportunities for us to establish and renew close contacts with our trade counterparts and to keep our finger on the pulse of the global trade scene, which is conducive to maintaining Hong Kong's status as an international trade and financial centre," Mr Yau said.
 
     Mr Yau said the current-term Government is striving to strengthen bilateral ties with like-minded trading partners and deepen Hong Kong's economic integration with different part of the world.
 
     In this regard, in the afternoon, Mr Yau held a bilateral meeting with the Federal Minister of International Trade Diversification of Canada, Mr James Carr, to discuss the prospect of further strengthening trade co-operation between the two places. He also met with the Minister for Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea, Mr Kim Hyun-chong, to exchange views on trade issues and discuss the progress of the setting up of an Economic and Trade Office in Seoul.
 
     Hong Kong signed Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with Korea and Canada in 1997 and 2016 respectively.
 
     Mr Yau also joined the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, to meet with the Secretary of State for International Trade of the United Kingdom, Dr Liam Fox, to discuss issues relating to forging closer bilateral economic ties between the two places, including exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement in future. Mr Yau told Dr Fox that Hong Kong welcomes more British companies setting up offices in Hong Kong and making use of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to enter into the Mainland market and tap the vast business opportunities therein.

     Mr Yau took part in the "Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders: The End of Global Trade as We Know it?" under the WEF where participating ministers and policy makers exchanged views on the outlook for free trade and the multilateral trading system in the present era. He spoke on the challenges facing the current global economic and trade environment in the meeting.
 
     In the morning, Mr Yau attended one of the sessions of the WEF Annual Meeting entitled "Emerging Markets Outlook". He will join the WEF China Night this evening. 
 
     Mr Yau will speak at a panel discussion of a Belt and Road Forum and a lunch hosted by the Washington Post, Slate and Foreign Policy tomorrow (January 24, Davos time).