Tag Archives: China

     The Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam have facilitated the organisation of an online seminar co-organised by the AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre and the eBRAM International Online Dispute Resolution Centre today (June 27).

     This is the first event promoting the talent and professional exchanges between Hong Kong and Brunei Darussalam since the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the DoJ and the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam on May 4 this year. The MoC aims to strengthen communication, collaboration and co-operation between the two jurisdictions on issues relating to dispute avoidance and resolution and to facilitate development of the related services.

     As remarked by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, in the opening of the seminar, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome friends from Brunei joining this online seminar, signifying the first collaboration between the two jurisdictions under the MoC. I am most grateful to Chief Justice Chong (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam, Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong Wan Oon) and the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam for facilitating the arrangements, which is a great start to building closer ties for practitioners between Brunei and Hong Kong.”

     Chief Justice Chong said, “The event today demonstrates how we have laid a firm foundation for future co-operation between Brunei Darussalam and Hong Kong and how we have begun to successfully materialise our shared commitment to the MoC through sharing experiences, exchanging ideas and expertise and promoting the delivery of fair, proportionate and timely justice.”

     Brunei Darussalam is an important partner to China’s Belt and Road Initiative which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. In the area of legal and dispute resolution services, the DoJ will continue to proactively contribute to the initiative, and to further the collaboration with the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam.

  

     In the run-up to the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, today (June 27) hosted a cocktail reception for representatives of local and foreign chambers of commerce to review the work of the current-term Government in promoting trade and economic developments, and exchange views on the work focus in the coming year.
 
     Delivering a speech at the cocktail reception, Mr Yau said that it has been the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB)’s focus and priority in the past year to create stronger impetus for Hong Kong’s economic growth through helping enterprises weather the storm arising from the epidemic, and expanding the room for businesses to grow further.
 
     ​​Mr Yau stressed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have always been the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s economy. In the past year, the Government continued to enhance various funding schemes to step up the support for SMEs, such as raising the funding ceiling of the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) to $7 million per enterprise, injecting a further $500 million into it, and launching “Easy BUD” to expedite the processing of applications for smaller projects.
 
     ​​He also noted that the application period for the principal moratorium under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme has been further extended by three months to end in end-September 2023 to help alleviate the instant repayment pressure still facing some SMEs.
 
     Mr Yau also took the opportunity to update the guests on the work of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), with a mandate to attract high-potential and representative strategic enterprises from around the globe.
 
     “Our economic and trade offices around the world have also been upgraded by setting up dedicated teams to help OASES reach out. In about six months’ time, OASES has met with more than 150 enterprises. Many of them are industry leaders as well as companies engaging in cutting-edge technologies. OASES and relevant bureaux are evaluating the business development proposals received,” Mr Yau said.
 
     “Apart from strategic enterprises, the Government attaches equal importance to general investment promotion work. In the first five months of 2023, Invest Hong Kong assisted 186 Mainland and overseas companies in setting up or expanding their operations in Hong Kong, an increase of 32 per cent when compared with the same period last year,” he added.
 
​​     Mr Yau also highlighted the importance of the convention and exhibition industry to Hong Kong as an international trade centre. A new $1.4 billion incentive scheme to attract recurrent exhibitions in Hong Kong will be launched on July 1. It is expected to support over 200 exhibitions in the coming three years.
 
     ​​Referring to further developing Hong Kong into a regional Intellectual Property (IP) trading centre, he said that the Government has been adopting a multipronged strategy, including strengthening protection of IP rights, building capacity and promoting widely.
 
     ​​Meanwhile, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI). Mr Yau shared his insights on how Hong Kong can capitalise on its unique advantages as a participant, contributor and beneficiary of the B&RI. He said that the CEDB is organising the eighth edition of the Belt and Road Summit to be held in September with a special Middle East Forum arranged to promote new opportunities and collaborations.
 
     ​​Coincidentally, this year is also the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). Mr Yau pointed out that CEPA has not only created unprecedented economic opportunities for Hong Kong, but also played a significant role in the country’s reform and opening up. He called on the chambers and business associations to support and join a series of celebration activities.
 
     The guests attending the cocktail reception today included the President of the Legislative Council (LegCo), Mr Andrew Leung, several LegCo Members and representatives from local and foreign chambers of commerce.

    

     â€‹The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) organised, with the support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai, a roundtable event themed “Driving opportunities in Innovation and Technology in Hong Kong” in Shanghai today (June 27). The event was attended by representatives of nearly 30 strategic enterprises from the East China region.
      
     The roundtable event aims to help these enterprises to expand their global business via Hong Kong, by leveraging Hong Kong’s innovation and technology policy, as well as the booming development opportunities of Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. A representative from the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited explained how Hong Kong’s listing policy provides a broader path for an increasing number of technology enterprises. A speaker from the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited pointed out that as an innovative digital community, it is committed to promoting the technology application in respect of financial technology, smart living, e-sports/digital entertainment and cyber security, as well as the development of artificial intelligence/big data and blockchain technology.
      
     The Director-General of OASES, Mr Philip Yung, said at the roundtable that Hong Kong and Shanghai have long maintained a close co-operative relationship as the two key economic and trade centres of China. Hong Kong is Shanghai’s number one source of foreign capital and up to 3 000 enterprises from Shanghai have invested close to US$80 billion in Hong Kong by the end of 2020. Being the top choice for Mainland enterprises to go global, Hong Kong attracts more and more enterprises from the East China region to list and set up their business there to ride on the high-quality international resources and successfully tap into the global market. After the roundtable event, OASES will visit a number of strategic enterprises in Shanghai and Hangzhou, with a view to attracting them to set up their business in Hong Kong.
      
     The Chief Executive announced the establishment of OASES, led by the Financial Secretary, in his Policy Address in October 2022. OASES is tasked with attracting representative and high-potential strategic enterprises from strategic industries such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and new-energy technology.

  

     Following is the speech by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, at the Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme graduation ceremony today (June 27):
 
Lavinia (Chief Customer and Commercial Officer of Cathay Pacific, Ms Lavinia Lau), Rebecca (Chief Financial Officer of Cathay Pacific Group, Ms Rebecca Sharpe), Chris (Director Flight Operations of Cathay Pacific, Mr Chris Kempis), Patricia (Director People of Cathay Pacific, Ms Patricia Hwang), Clara (Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Flight Standards), Miss Clara Wong), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good afternoon. I’m honoured to be here today to celebrate with you the graduation of Cathay Pacific’s (CX) Cadet Pilot Programme.
 
     This event today is a particularly meaningful and momentous occasion. For the first time in three years, we are finally able to gather here to celebrate the achievements of the Cadet Pilot Programme graduates.   
 
     Talents are the backbone of the development of the local aviation industry. We firmly believe that there is huge potential for Hong Kong to become not only an international aviation hub, but also a leading centre for aviation training in the world. The National 14th Five-Year Plan and the Greater Bay Area outline development plan have also reaffirmed the Central Government’s unwavering support for Hong Kong in enhancing our position as an international aviation hub.
 
     Against such a backdrop, it has all along been the Government’s policy to promote localisation by encouraging local airlines to invest resources in training local cadet pilots. We firmly believe that in the long run, only by enlarging the pool of local aviation talents can we sustain the development of Hong Kong’s aviation industry. In this regard, we very much appreciate CX’s continuous efforts in promoting manpower training, especially in nurturing local aviation talents. The well-established CX Cadet Pilot Programme, renowned for its well-structured curriculum and top-notch teaching, has trained more than 1 000 cadet pilots for Hong Kong, making a significant contribution to the local aviation industry. We are also glad to learn that last year, CX signed an agreement with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to collaborate on a new local integrated course for CX’s cadet pilot training programme.
 
     Despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic in the past few years, I am delighted to witness today the graduation of 19 cadet pilots. I understand that this is the largest graduating class to date under CX’s cadet training programme which began more than 30 years ago. With the pandemic now behind us and the aviation industry continuing to make great strides in its recovery, I am convinced that the opportunities ahead of our graduates are endless.
 
     Looking ahead, a number of major airport development programmes are underway. The Government and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) are working full steam at taking forward projects including the Three-Runway System and the transformation of our airport into an “Airport City”. Following the completion of these developments, I’m sure that there will be a higher volume of air traffic which entails greater demand for aviation talents. 
 
     The Government is fully aware of the manpower challenges faced by the industry, so please rest assured that we are adopting a multi-pronged approach to address the issue. Not only have we and the AAHK helped to step up local recruitment efforts by organising numerous large-scale job fairs, but the AAHK has also taken various measures to relieve pressure on frontline staff and improve the airport’s working conditions. Some of the more notable changes on this front are the deployment of automation technologies at the airport to save manpower, a staff pooling scheme to provide hired hands at busy hours and the opening of the HKIA Community Building, as well as the catering, leisure and nursery facilities in which I am sure some of you have also enjoyed as airport staff.
 
     As a quick relief, apart from supporting continual training and skill upgrading through the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund and the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy, we are also rolling out a sector-specific scheme for labour importation for the aviation industry, which we hope, together with continual local recruitment efforts, will provide the industry with sufficient people to help us consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub.
 
     On this special occasion, I’d like to congratulate all of our graduates on completing the cadet training programme successfully and with flying colours. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours. Thank you. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Transport Advisory Committee:      The Transport Complaints Unit (TCU) of the Transport Advisory Committee received 10 190 complaints and suggestions in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 318 bei… read more