The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced that a tender of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes (issue number 01GH2508) under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme was held today (August 14).
      
     A total of HK$1.5 billion one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes were allocated today. A total of HK$6.840 billion tender applications were received. The bid-to-cover ratio, i.e. the ratio of notes applied for to notes issued, is 4.56. The highest spread accepted is 0.22 per cent. 

HKSAR Government Institutional Bond Issuance Programme Government Bond tender results
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     Tender results of one-year HONIA-indexed Floating Rate Notes under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme:
 

 
* Calculated as the amount of notes applied for over the amount of notes issued.

     The Development Bureau (DEVB) today (August 14) announced the appointment of five persons, nominated by the DEVB, as Chairman/directors of the Board of the Urban Renewal Fund (URF Board). The URF is an independent company limited by guarantee incorporated to manage the Urban Renewal Trust Fund.

     In accordance with the Articles of Association of the URF, the Secretary for Development nominated Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah for appointment as Chairman of the URF Board, and nominated Ms Grace Chan Man-yee, Dr Fok Yeung-yeung, Ms Nadine Eden Maurellet and Ms Sunnie Lau Sing-yeung for appointment as directors of the URF Board. The term is three years from August 15, 2024. The above nominees have all been appointed in accordance with the Articles of Association of the URF. 

     "I am very pleased that Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah will serve as Chairman of the URF Board. Mr Ma is a veteran registered social worker with extensive experiences in social services. Having served as a director of the URF Board since August 2020, he has been actively involved in URF’s work and provided invaluable advice. I am confident that under the leadership of Mr Ma, the URF Board will continue to make the best use of the Urban Renewal Trust Fund to achieve its objectives," the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said.

     Ms Linn also thanked the outgoing Chairman, Professor Steven Ngai Sek-yum. She said, "Professor Ngai has been the Board Chairman since August 2017 and spared no effort in promoting the work of the URF. Under the excellent leadership of Professor Ngai, the URF has not only been commissioning social service teams to provide suitable support to the owners and tenants affected by the redevelopment projects of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), but also promoting urban renewal heritage preservation and supporting projects initiated by local residents and community organisations in response to the needs and characteristics of the districts concerned through a district revitalisation funding scheme, with a view to improving residents' living quality and fostering their sense of belonging to the community. I sincerely thank Professor Ngai for his invaluable contributions to the work of the URF.”

     The membership of the URF Board with effect from August 15, 2024, is as follows:

Chairman
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Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah

Directors
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Ms Fanny Ang Bing-hun
Ms Grace Chan Man-yee
Ms Kitty Chau Shuk-king
Dr Fok Yeung-yeung
Mr Sunny Ho Lap-kee 
Ms Janice Lai Wai-man
Mr Dominic Lam Kwong-ki
Ms Sunnie Lau Sing-yeung
Mr David Lui Yin-tat
Ms Nadine Eden Maurellet
Mr Steven Pun Chi-ho
Ms Renee So Yi-ha
Mr Wai Chi-sing
Mr Wong Wai-kit

Secretary
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Ms Erica Chui Cheuk-wah

     The URF, incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on August 15, 2011, was set up pursuant to section 6(2)(s) of the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance to act as the trustee and settlor of the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund, with funding support from the URA, provides an independent funding source to support the operation of the social service teams that render assistance to the affected owners and tenants of the urban redevelopment projects implemented by the URA. The Trust Fund also supports planning and related studies by the District Urban Renewal Forum as well as initiatives related to heritage preservation and district revitalisation proposed by non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in the overall context of urban renewal. Pursuant to the Articles of Association of the URF, the directors of the URF Board shall be nominated by the Secretary for Development and appointed by the URF. The establishment of the Trust Fund was one of the major initiatives under the Urban Renewal Strategy promulgated by the Government in February 2011.

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 (August 14) that the Environmental Protection Department has classified the water quality at Silver Mine Bay Beach and Pui O Beach in Islands District as Grade 2 and Grade 3 respectively, which means the water quality has improved and the beaches are suitable for swimming. The red flags have been lowered.

     The red flags were hoisted on the beaches earlier on due to the water quality being classified as Grade 4 and unsuitable for swimming.

     â€‹The Territory-wide Sewage Surveillance Programme was awarded the Gold Award of the 2024 International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards under the category of "Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions". This fully recognises the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's innovative spirit and outstanding technological achievements in using sewage surveillance to help combat the epidemic.
      
     The Awards Gala Dinner was held at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Toronto, Canada, on August 13 (Toronto time). The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, together with the Deputy Director of Drainage Services, Mr Robin Lee, and Principal Medical & Health Officer the Department of Health (DH), Dr Kung Kin-hang, led an interdepartmental delegation to receive the award.
      
     The interdepartmental team, comprising the Environmental Protection Department, the Drainage Services Department and the DH, has implemented a unique territory-wide sewage surveillance programme that combated COVID-19 by using sewage surveillance to provide important data to assist anti-epidemic measures during the most severe epidemic situation in Hong Kong, and brought about significant socio-economic benefits.
      
     "Standing out from 108 submissions worldwide, the programme showcased that the HKSAR Government is keen to apply an innovative spirit that incorporates water research in public health control strategy in developing a framework that not only suits Hong Kong, but is also applicable to other places in the world. The achievements are internationally recognised," Dr Chui said.
      
     The Territory-wide Sewage Surveillance Programme detects the viral concentration of the SARS-Co V-2 virus in the sewage network through a non-intrusive way, covering about 80 per cent of Hong Kong's population during the COVID-19 epidemic. This programme also effectively traces the source of the virus in different anti-epidemic phases and serves a sentinel surveillance function, enabling the Government to keep track of the activity of the virus in the community and the prevalence of its variants. During the fifth wave of the epidemic, the team developed two statistical models using a large amount of sewage virus data, which could predict the number of new cases in real-time two to four days ahead to assist in formulating anti-epidemic strategies and measures.
      
     The programme has received full recognition from both local and foreign experts and has won several awards, including the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government/Public Service, the Excellence in Partnership Award of the Civil Service Outstanding Service Awards, and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Grand Award and Merit Award. The sewage monitoring work has also been regularised after the full resumption to normalcy of society and has become one of the key indicators of the COVID-19 surveillance system. Relevant data and results are listed in the COVID-19 & Flu Express released weekly by the DH. Looking ahead, the Government will further strengthen sewage surveillance. The scope of sewage surveillance will be expanded to cover other infectious diseases (such as seasonal influenza) in a stepwise manner, with a view to early identification of risks arising from different infectious diseases to formulate appropriate public health response measures.
      
     The IWA is the world's largest professional organisation in the water sector, bringing together water professionals from 140 countries/areas to explore smart water usage and seek solutions to global water resource challenges. Its Project Innovation Awards are presented every two years to recognise projects and teams that demonstrate outstanding innovation and leadership in research and technology within the professional water research sector.

    

     The Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Poon Kwok-ying, attended the award ceremony of the sixth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Smart Communities Initiative (ESCI) Best Practices Awards Program in Lima, Peru on August 13 (Peru time). This year’s Program comprised 10 awards, and a total of 62 projects from 13 APEC member economies participated in the selection. Hong Kong, China won one gold and two silver awards among the 10 awards this year, winning again after it won an award in 2022.
 
     Mr Poon attended the award ceremony to receive the awards and said, “The three awards won in two categories not only acknowledge Hong Kong, China’s efforts in smart residential communities but also serve as a reminder to persist in our commitment to fostering innovation and technology to meet our carbon neutrality goal.”
 
     The three winning projects by Hong Kong, China are:
 

• Power-hawk Inspector: a drone-based power grid defect inspector with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) using few-shot learning and federated learning, by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), received the gold award in the Smart Grids category.
• E&M AI Lab: Driving Digital Transformation in Building Facilities Management, by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), received the silver award in the Smart Buildings category.
• Renewable Energy and Retired EV Battery Solution for Smart Grid Integration, by the HKPC, received the silver award in the Smart Grids category

 
     The APEC Energy Working Group initiated the ESCI in 2010, and launched the biennial APEC ESCI Best Practices Awards in 2013, to recognise exemplary community-level projects that integrate renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies for sustainable development in the APEC region. A gold award and a silver award are selected from each of the five categories: Smart Transport, Smart Buildings, Smart Grids, Smart Jobs and Consumers, and Low Carbon Model Towns. In 2022, a joint project by the EMSD and the Hong Kong Green Building Council won the gold award in the Smart Jobs and Consumers category. For more information about the ESCI, please visit www.esci-ksp.org.