Month: September 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kin-por and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (September 25):

Question: 
The TD and the HKPF will continue to work with the Road Safety Council to conduct various publicity and educational programmes, such as publishing and distributing the Road Safety Bulletin, and disseminating information through social media platforms, to enhance road users’ awareness of safety and safe loading. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (September 25):
 
Question:
 
     There are views that the existing “Code of Practice in Times of Adverse Weather and ‘Extreme Conditions'” (the Code) formulated by the Labour Department (LD) lacks a legally binding effect and contains an ambiguous definition of “designated staff”, which is not conducive to safeguarding employees’ safety and interests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of requests for assistance and complaints received by the LD over the past three years from employees who were dismissed, had their wages, good attendance bonus, allowances, annual leave, statutory holidays or rest days deducted owing to their inability to resume duty or inability to resume duty on time due to adverse weather or extreme conditions, or were asked for additional hours of work to compensate for the loss of working hours when they were unable to report for duty;

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the Routes World 2025 today (September 25): 

Fred (Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Mr Fred Lam), Steven (Managing Director of Routes, Mr Steven Small), Vivian (Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Mrs Vivian Cheung), distinguished guests from the aviation industry, ladies and gentlemen,
 
Good morning. A very warm welcome to Routes World 2025. It is a great pleasure to join so many distinguished leaders and professionals from across the global aviation sector. While the inclement weather may have disrupted some of your plans to explore our city, I trust it has also offered you a glimpse into Hong Kong’s resilience in tackling climate challenges, and the efficiency of our world-class city management. 

First of all, thank you for hosting this landmark 30th edition of Routes World in Hong Kong. Over the next couple of days, you’ll be sharing insights and experiences, and exploring the future pathways for air route development. These discussions are vital not only for shaping the future of global aviation, but also for fostering deeper economic collaboration, as well as understanding and friendship among peoples. I am proud that Hong Kong is serving as the meeting point for such meaningful dialogues. 

We meet at a time of remarkable momentum in global aviation. According to the IATA, global air passenger traffic grew by over 10 per cent year-on-year in 2024. And despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts and economic uncertainties, passenger demand is projected to rise by another 6 per cent this year. Air cargo volume is also expected to grow slightly, reaching 69 million tonnes. This growth is accompanied by a positive outlook on airline revenues and profitability, supported in part by more stable fuel prices.

Much of the above expansion and vitality is led by the Asia-Pacific region, where China accounts for over 40 per cent of the regional traffic. Other regions, such as the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, are also seeing significant growth.

Hong Kong is benefiting from this global boom. Last year, our airport handled 53 million passengers, an increase of 34 per cent year-on-year. In the first eight months of this year, we welcomed 40 million passengers, up another 15 per cent. For 14 of the past 15 years, the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has been the world’s busiest cargo airport.

Today, our airport operates over 1 000 flights daily, connecting more than 210 destinations worldwide through some 140 airlines. To meet the rising demand, we are making substantial investments in our aviation infrastructure. The commissioning of the Three-Runway System last year was a major milestone. It enables our airport to handle up to 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2035.

Complementing this is the HKIA’s “SKYTOPIA” development plan, which will transform our airport from an aviation hub into a world-leading landmark for commerce, tourism, arts and leisure. It is indeed a visionary project, featuring art storage facilities, a state-of-the-art sportainment complex, Hong Kong’s largest yacht marina, and more.

Thanks to our international connectivity, Hong Kong also serves as the preferred gateway for international travel by residents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Currently, around 20 per cent of our airport’s passengers come from the GBA. With rising travel demand from this region, we see immense potential for this number to grow even further. To support this, we are enhancing the intermodal transport network in the GBA, and streamlining immigration and customs clearance procedures, to facilitate more efficient flows of passengers and cargo.

The world is changing rapidly, with geopolitics reshaping global economic dynamics and patterns of passenger travel.

     Notwithstanding this, China remains firmly committed to high-level two-way opening up, welcoming more international businesses and travellers. Its expanding unilateral visa exemption for more and more countries is a good case in point. Hong Kong’s role as a gateway to the Mainland will only grow stronger. As a matter of fact, in the first eight months of this year, travellers to Hong Kong from outside the Chinese Mainland reached 7.7 million, rising by 16 per cent year-on-year. 

In this connection, we are not only reinforcing ties with traditional partners in Europe and North America, but also expanding our network across the Global South, including ASEAN, the Middle East, Central Asia and Latin America. We are actively working to introduce new destinations and increase flight frequencies with emerging markets, particularly for long-haul routes.

These efforts are already bearing fruit. Over the past two years, we have expanded bilateral air services agreements with more than 10 economies. In the past two months, we reached consensus with Chile and Poland respectively to work on new air services agreements that will further strengthen our connectivity with the economies in those regions.

Equally important is our commitment to sustainability. In the Policy Address delivered last week, we presented Hong Kong’s vision in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). That includes developing the related industry chain in the GBA, the whole chain from upstream to downstream. This initiative will support our goal of achieving the targeted SAF consumption ratio for flights departing from the HKIA by 2030, and in becoming a leader in SAF in this region. 

Ladies and gentlemen, events like Routes World provide an invaluable platform to build partnerships and foster collaboration. I invite you to make the most of the programmes and networking opportunities over the coming days. 

My sincere thanks to Informa Markets and the Airport Authority Hong Kong for bringing this exceptional event to reality. Thank you all, and I wish you a productive and inspiring conference.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (September 25):

Question: 
(3) In response to the question from the Hon Tien at the Legislative Council meeting on January 8, I stated that we would continuously review the terms of Government funded events to ensure that the funding provided was value for money, added value to Hong Kong, and did not damage Hong Kong’s reputation. In fact, we had already completed the review on the “M” Mark Major Sports Events and the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund, and announced measures to strengthen the vetting mechanism and subsequent monitoring, and provide more targeted financial support for events that attract tourist participation.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 2025 (Report on Government Accounts) was tabled in the Legislative Council (LegCo) this morning (September 25).

     The Report on Government Accounts provides an overall assurance that the financial statements properly present the assets and liabilities of the Government as at March 31, 2025, and the receipts and payments for the year ended on that date.

     The Report on Government Accounts is available on the Audit Commission’s website (www.aud.gov.hk/eng/pubpr/pubpr_accounts.htm).

     In light of the prorogation of the seventh LegCo on October 24, 2025, the normal procedures for submitting the Report on Government Accounts and Report No. 85 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits to the President of LegCo in October 2025 and tabling the Reports in November 2025 cannot be adopted. In consideration of the circumstances, the Audit Commission, with the agreement of the President of LegCo, the Public Accounts Committee and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, (a) has advanced the submission and tabling of the Report on Government Accounts to September 12 and September 25 respectively in 2025 (in 2024 the dates were October 31 and November 27 respectively) and (b) will defer the submission of Report No. 85 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits to the next term of LegCo and no later than April 7, 2026 (i.e. the deadline for submission of Report No. 86 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits). In accordance with the value for money audit guidelines tabled in the Provisional LegCo on February 11, 1998, approval of the Chief Executive has been obtained for the deferral.    

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (September 25) the reopening of some swimming pools under its management, temporarily closed earlier due to inspection and clearance works of damage and miscellaneous articles caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa.

• New Territories

1. North District:
� Fanling Swimming Pool (to be reopened at 9am)
� Sheung Shui Swimming Pool (to be reopened at 9am)

2. Tuen Mun District:
� Tuen Mun Swimming Pool (to be reopened at 9am)
� Tuen Mun North West Swimming Pool (to be reopened at 9am)
� The Jockey Club Yan Oi Tong Swimming Pool (to be reopened at 10am)

3. Tuen Long District:
� Yuen Long Swimming Pool (has been reopened)
� Tin Shui Wai Swimming Pool (has been reopened)