Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
InvestHK to deepen economic ties with Canadian investors and businesses (with photo)
“Hong Kong and Canada have long shared a strong and mutually beneficial investment relationship. In 2023, Canada ranked eighth among the major sources of inward direct investment into Hong Kong, contributing over US$34 billion. At the same time, Hong Kong made outward direct investment of around US$10 billion to Canada, reflecting the deep economic ties and two-way confidence between our markets,” Mr Ng said. “Hong Kong will continue to play its unique role as both a ‘super connector’ and a value creator, bridging traditional and emerging markets and unlocking new opportunities for Canadian businesses.”
During his visit to Waterloo, Toronto and Montreal, Mr Ng will meet with investors, family offices, multinationals, Canadian start-ups, academia and business leaders to explore new opportunities for collaboration and showcase Hong Kong’s unique advantages as a launchpad for Asian expansion. Key discussions will focus on leveraging the city’s strategic gateway position to Mainland China and its business-friendly environment for scaling operations.
Mr Ng will host exclusive roundtables for entrepreneurs and Canada-Hong Kong ecosystem partners to highlight Hong Kong’s strengths in wealth management and cross-border investment solutions. He will also participate in networking events to promote Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival 2025, inviting Canadian investors and entrepreneurs to visit Hong Kong November 3 to 7, engage with Asia’s dynamic markets, and experience the opportunities Hong Kong offers firsthand.
Hong Kong and Canada have established longstanding and strong ties across trade, investment, tourism, and cultural exchanges. This relationship was further strengthened by the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which came into effect in September 2016, providing Canadian and Hong Kong investors with a transparent and secure environment to foster cross-border investment. In 2023, Canada ranked as Hong Kong’s ninth largest services trading partner, with bilateral trade growing at an average annual rate of 2.2 per cent from 2019 to 2023.
Issued at HKT 9:00
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Universities’ global appeal flourishes
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Hong Kong’s universities are internationally renowned for their excellence in many different fields, attracting students from all around the world to study in the city.
Hannah Yu is among them. Hailing from Zhejiang, she is an undergraduate student in City University’s School of Law. She describes the university as having an international atmosphere, with various courses being taught by visiting foreign scholars.
“Hong Kong is the bridge between the east and west,” she said. “Here we can have more chance to interact with people with diverse backgrounds. And also, Hong Kong is one of the few common law jurisdictions in Asia.”
The university also provides a number of exchange programmes, with Hannah having been on short-term exchange visits to Oxford University in the UK and another university in Sweden.
“I think this experience is what Hong Kong gives me,” she said.
Universities in Hong Kong encourage exchange learning by developing exchange programmes and offering financial assistance to participating students. As of the end of November last year, universities funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) had signed more than 2,600 student exchange agreements with institutions around the world.
Cultural diversity
City University has been ranked as the world’s most international university by the British magazine Times Higher Education for two consecutive years, and its many non-local students help to create a richly multicultural environment.
Ivelina Karaatanasova from Bulgaria is an undergraduate student at the university’s School of Creative Media. She explained that she chose to study in Hong Kong because she wanted to explore creative environments outside of Europe.
Owing to the university’s highly internationalised environment, she has met people from all kinds of backgrounds, allowing her to think innovatively and understand diverse perspectives.
She added that she enjoys Hong Kong’s vibrant lifestyle and hopes to stay in the city after graduation if she can find an opportunity to develop her career here.
Abundant opportunities
Kevin Frans Periatna from Indonesia agrees that Hong Kong boasts unique advantages and offers a diverse range of opportunities for graduates.
An undergraduate in City University’s College of Business, he was inspired to step out of his comfort zone and come to Hong Kong by the example of his elder brother, a City University graduate.
He highlighted that Hong Kong provides diversified options for graduate career paths, adding that the Government offers extensive support for startups, backed by a flourishing ecosystem in the city. Kevin plans to stay in Hong Kong after graduating to develop his career or even start his own business.
He also emphasised the part cultural diversity plays in ensuring the university’s success.
“There will not be innovation if there are no different opinions,” he said. “By having different people from different cultures, it could make the university become one of the best universities.”
Talent acquisition
To further develop Hong Kong into an international education hub for post-secondary education, the Government doubled the enrolment ceiling for non-local students of government-funded post-secondary institutions to 40% from the current academic year.
UGC Secretariat Secretary-General Prof James Tang said that having more foreign students studying in Hong Kong is beneficial to the city.
“On the one hand, it will attract talent to Hong Kong,” he said. “On the other hand, it helps local students in appreciating and understanding diverse cultures.”
The number of non-local students has gradually increased over the past five years. In the current academic year, the number of such students enrolling in UGC-funded programmes reached about 26,600, adding to growing demand for student accommodation.
The Government set up the Hostel Development Fund in 2018 to support the construction of student hostels by UGC-funded universities. With the completion of various hostel projects coming to fruition, it is expected that the total capacity of the city’s student accommodation will increase to around 50,000.
Government steps up efforts in handling water incidents at Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court (with photos/video)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Government steps up efforts in handling water incidents at Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court (with photos/video)
The Government has set up an expert group comprising three experts from the Drinking Water Safety Advisory Committee (DWSAC), namely the Chairman of the DWSAC, Dr Chan Hon-fai, Mr Chung Chi-ming, and Mr Chan Chi-ming. The expert group will continue to advise on the traceability work of the incident and ensure the investigation results are scientific and objective.
The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, together with the Director of Water Supplies, Mr Roger Wong, and the three members of the expert group, visited the upstream location of the water supply network for Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court today (June 7) to inspect the screen filter and learn about the upcoming work at the location of the pipe. The Government briefed the expert group on the assessment that the section of steel pipe with bitumen protective coating on the inner wall at the upstream water supply network at Ping Che Road, which is about 400-metre-long and 600 millimetres in diameter, is believed to be the source of sediments in the water at Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court. The expert group considered the assessment reasonable.
The WSD will continue to deepen the traceability work, using advanced technologies, such as robots, to detect the condition of the bitumen coating inside the pipe, so as to further ascertain the specific cause of the incident. An investigation report of the incident will be submitted to the DWSAC for review within two weeks.
Ms Linn said that the WSD will first replace a section of 400-metre-long steel water pipe with bitumen protective coating on the inner wall at the upstream and the works will commence within this year. The WSD will immediately start the preparation work. At present, non-bitumen protective coating is used on the inner wall of over 90 per cent of water pipes in Hong Kong. For the 700-kilometre-long water pipes with bitumen protective coating on the inner wall, the WSD has installed over 1 000 screen filters at suitable locations, and will review, in accordance with the risk-based approach, whether it is necessary to install extra screen filters at other locations. The WSD will formulate a longer-term plan for the replacement of water pipes and will submit a proposal to the Development Bureau for review.
While stepping up the traceability work, the WSD has increased the frequency of water testing. Water samples are collected daily from water tanks at Queen’s Hill Estate (comprising seven buildings, a community centre and a shopping mall) and Shan Lai Court (six buildings) for testing to closely monitor water quality. The testing results are released on the WSD’s website daily. To ensure residents can feel at ease when consuming water, the WSD will continue to arrange water tanks for the estates to provide temporary water supply. The WSD will also promptly address any inquiries received (the WSD’s 24-hour hotline: 2824 5000). The District Officer will strengthen communication with the WSD and the Housing Department (HD) and will immediately follow up on any complaints from residents.
Prompt arrangement has been made by the HD to thoroughly clean again the water tanks in every building of Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court within the next seven days. The HD installed a total of 22 high-efficiency filtration devices at the ground-level water inlets of all 13 buildings in Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court. These devices will be inspected twice daily to ensure proper operation. The expenses for these measures will be fully borne by the Government.
The HD will display the WSD’s daily water test results in the lobby of each building in Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court, with daily updating. If residents observe any issues with water quality, they can call the Queen’s Hill Estate management office (Tel: 2537 0001) or the Shan Lai Court management office (Tel: 2713 9530) and provide their contact information. The management office will follow up by contacting residents and conducting on-site inspections.
The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the Home Affairs Department (HAD), together with District Council (DC) members and volunteers from Care Teams (CT), have conducted over 100 visits and gathered cases for referral over the past week, demonstrating through concrete actions their care for the residents of Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court over the drinking water incident and its impact on their daily lives.
The HYAB and the HAD will gather over 50 persons comprising DC members, members of the “three district committees” of the North District, and the six sub-teams of the North District CTs, along with staff members of the HD, to conduct home visits today and tomorrow. The visits will include following up with households previously sought assistance in relation to the incident on their current water usage conditions, and making immediate referrals where necessary. The team reached over 850 households during today’s visit; the majority of these households acknowledged water quality has substantially improved. Additionally, three street booths will be set up at key locations in Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court to provide residents with the latest updates and practical information, as well as to register residents’ cases for assistance.
Issued at HKT 23:44
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Boao innovation conference held
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The Boao Forum for Asia’s International Science, Technology & Innovation Forum (ISTIF) was held in Hong Kong for the first time today and yesterday.
Held at the Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and co-organised with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the conference – themed “Transitioning Towards the Future: Powered by Science, Technology and Innovation” – attracted some 800 leading experts, academics and political and economic leaders from the Mainland and overseas.
The conference focused both on how to capitalise on Hong Kong’s unique advantage of being connected to the Mainland and the outside world and how to foster global co-operation in the field of innovation and technology (I&T).
During its Opening Plenary, Chief Executive John Lee outlined that under the “one country, two systems” arrangement, Hong Kong is the only world city that enjoys both the “China advantage” and the “global advantage”. He added that the city will take full advantage of its established tradition of the rule of law, its world-class universities and its robust intellectual property protection regime as it moves to become an international innovation and technology centre.
Highlighting that the world stands at a consequential crossroads in human history, Mr Lee said the convergence of artificial intelligence and health technology will lead to the next era of humanity’s evolution.
He remarked that innovation must be rooted in international co-operation, and in the open and free exchange of knowledge, talent and ideas.
In today’s Hong Kong Forum, themed “Leveraging the Advantages of Connecting with Both the Mainland and the World to Foster Global Innovation and Technology Collaboration”, renowned Hong Kong experts and political and business leaders from various fields, explored how the city can fully leverage its unique advantages of internal and external connectivity.
Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong outlined that the Government has launched a series of robust policies to solidify Hong Kong’s research capabilities, accelerate the transformation of research and development outcomes, and promote the development of the technology industry.
Prof Sun explained that these policies are aimed at building a complete I&T ecological chain encompassing upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, and at promoting interactive collaboration across government, industry, academia, the research community and investors, to turn breakthroughs into impact and ideas into global solutions.
Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine worth about $5.3 million at airport (with photo)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine worth about $5.3 million at airport (with photo)Issued at HKT 19:03
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Chris Sun attends conference in Geneva
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun attended the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, over the past few days.
At the conference, he met participants and officials from around the world, and took the opportunity to brief them on developments in Hong Kong’s labour market and economy.
Mr Sun yesterday attended the ILC’s plenary session, during which he listened to a speech delivered by Vice Minister of Human Resources & Social Security Wu Xiuzhang, on a report by the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) titled “Jobs, Rights and Growth: Reinforcing the Connection”.
He also attended committee meetings and held bilateral meetings with senior ILO officials and leading figures from other international organisations to discuss issues including the application of international labour standards, social security, occupational health and safety, labour relations, and the platform economy.
He also engaged with them in presenting the latest situation in Hong Kong and held constructive exchanges on deepening collaboration.
In addition, Mr Sun and the delegation exchanged views with senior Mainland officials including Mr Wu and Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland Chen Xu.
Mr Sun spoke to government, employer and employee representatives from the People’s Republic of China delegation about matters including enhancing labour rights protection and strengthening the regulation of trade unions to safeguard national security. Mr Sun thanked the central government for its unfailing support to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
Mr Sun was due to depart for Munich, Germany, today to meet local entrepreneurs and talent there.
Re-domiciliation regime finds favour
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui said today the market has responded very positively following the enactment of legislation introducing a company re-domiciliation regime.
Mr Hui told reporters that the Government has received a lot of inquiries from companies about the new regime and its procedures.
“So far, in terms of inquiries, we have got about 150 of them and in terms of downloads of the relevant information from our website regarding this new regime, the number is close to 10,000.
“So I think all these are something very positive in terms of how we have been drawing more companies to re-domicile to Hong Kong.”
He added that companies re-domiciling to Hong Kong will create demand for professional services and that many sectors in the city will benefit.
Opening remarks by SITI at Hong Kong Forum of International Science, Technology and Innovation Forum of Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Hong Kong Conference (English only) (with photo)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at Hong Kong Forum of International Science, Technology and Innovation Forum of Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Hong Kong Conference today (June 7):
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
SLW attends International Labour Conference in Geneva (with photos)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
SLW attends International Labour Conference in Geneva Issued at HKT 12:00
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UGC Secretary-General visits US and UK
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
UGC Secretary-General visits US and UK
The Secretary-General of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Professor James Tang, led a delegation to visit the United States and the United Kingdom from May 25 (San Diego time) to June 6 (Birmingham time) as part of the effort to promote Hong Kong’s development into an international hub for post-secondary education.
Together with the delegation comprising all eight UGC-funded universities under the aegis of the Heads of Universities Committee’s Standing Committee on Internationalisation (HUCOMSCI), Professor Tang attended the NAFSA Annual Conference and Expo 2025 held in San Diego, the United States, where he spoke at a dedicated session on the strengths of Hong Kong’s higher education sector and the opportunities presented to students from around the world. With funding support from the UGC, the HUCOMSCI also set up a Hong Kong Pavilion to showcase Hong Kong’s internationalised and diversified higher education environment that welcomes academics and students from around the world to realise their aspirations.
“Over the years, with the substantial investment by the Government in higher education, the eight UGC-funded universities have continued to grow, with five ranked among the world’s top 100, six within Asia’s top 50, and four as the top most international universities in the world. Some 70 per cent of our research outputs are assessed as internationally excellent, while the most recent round of quality audits also reaffirms the quality of educational experience that our universities offer to students. Hong Kong is indeed the ideal destination for students to pursue their further studies and achieve greater success,” said Professor Tang at the session at the NAFSA Conference and Expo.
For the first time, the UGC also supported the Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance and the HUCOMSCI to share with the international audience on how the UGC-funded universities have grasped the immense potential brought by artificial intelligence in enhancing students’ learning experiences. This has once again demonstrated Hong Kong’s leadership in quality education through investment and innovation.
Professor Tang then attended the International Higher Education Forum 2025 held on June 4 (Birmingham time) in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, to share the factors underpinning Hong Kong’s success as an international hub for post-secondary education. He stressed that academic freedom and institutional autonomy have been the cornerstones of Hong Kong’s success, while highlighting the diversified composition of Hong Kong’s academic staff. Hong Kong universities attract a strong pool of distinguished scholars with a rich repertoire of international experience, and indeed some 70 per cent of them come from outside Hong Kong.
In the 2024 Policy Address, the Government announced its support for establishing the “Study in Hong Kong” brand in order to attract more meritorious students to pursue their studies in Hong Kong. Through participation in international conferences and exhibitions, Hong Kong has continued to expand its network for student mobility and research collaboration. As of November 2024, the eight UGC-funded universities have jointly signed 2 660 student exchange agreements with universities from around the world, and engaged in over 6 800 active research collaborations with other institutions. At present, around one out of four students in UGC-funded universities are from outside Hong Kong. The Government will continue to support universities to strive for further internationalisation, thereby reinforcing their global reputation and scaling new heights.
During the visit, Professor Tang also met with senior management and prominent scholars from top-tier higher education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom to exchange views on the latest developments in higher education. He also highlighted that Hong Kong’s outstanding universities have been a welcoming academic home for top scholars and talented students from around the world. As an international hub for higher education, Hong Kong’s doors are always open to all who want to realise their academic pursuits and explore the exciting opportunities offered by one of the world’s most dynamic cities.
Issued at HKT 11:56
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