Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, will depart for a visit to Shanghai and Zhejiang tomorrow morning (August 17).
During the visit, Mr Tse will meet with the leadership of the International Cooperation Department of the State Grid Corporation of China, as well as representatives of the State Grid International Development Company Limited and the State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company. He will also visit electricity facilities including the Power Dispatching and Control Center and Superconductivity Engineering Demonstration Project display center of the State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company to learn about the latest technology and developments of local electricity networks and power transmission infrastructure.
In addition, Mr Tse will attend part of the activities of the “Green Dreams Come True: HK Electric Green Energy, Innovation, Technology and Cultural Study Tour” organised by the Hongkong Electric Company Limited, and meet with students from Hong Kong. They will also visit the “Two Mountains” scenic area in Anji County of Zhejiang Province, which is the birthplace of the concept of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, to learn about the successful experience in green development impetus in the fields of eco-tourism and conservation.
A representative from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department will also join the trip.
Mr Tse will return to Hong Kong on August 19. During his absence, the Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Miss Diane Wong, will be the Acting Secretary for Environment and Ecology.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The Government Property Agency (GPA) is inviting tenders for a three-year tenancy of the government canteen on portions of the First Floor, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Headquarters, No. 3 Kai Shing Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong, subject to the provisions for renewal for a further term of three years.
The premises should only be used to operate a canteen that supplies meals, light refreshments, beverages (excluding alcoholic beverages and plastic bottled water) and other food commodities to government employees working at the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Headquarters and such other persons as may be authorised by the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services.
The tender notice was uploaded today (August 17) to the GPA Property Portal. Tender documents are available for collection at the GPA, 9/F, South Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, from 9am to 6pm, from Monday to Friday, except public holidays. The documents can also be downloaded from the GPA Property Portal.
Interested tenderers who wish to conduct a site inspection of the premises should make a prior appointment with the GPA by calling 3842 6783 by August 25.
Tenderers must submit their tenders by placing them in the Government Logistics Department Tender Box located on the Ground Floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong, before noon on September 8. Late tenders will not be accepted.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and organised by the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association, the 6th Hong Kong Game Enhancement and Promotion Scheme (GEPS) held its launch ceremony today (August 14). Assistant Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries Miss Yvonne Ip attended the ceremony as the officiating guest.
A total of five local start-up game companies were selected this year, covering game genres such as role-playing, simulation management, tower defense strategy and more. Some content also integrates elements of local culture, showcasing the diverse creativity of the local game design teams.
This year’s GEPS will continue to arrange for experienced industry professionals to provide professional guidance to the selected companies, and will organise a series of practical workshops on marketing, game testing and capital introduction, thereby enhancing their capabilities in game operation and marketing. GEPS will also sponsor each company to engage young graduates as interns to assist with the content optimisation and testing prior to the launch of the games and to provide the interns with on-the-job training. Additionally, GEPS will further enhance the public exposure and international visibility of the selected companies and their games through various online and offline promotional channels.
GEPS aims to nurture local game development talent and drive the sustainable development of Hong Kong’s game industry as well as the digital entertainment creative ecosystem. Since its launch, GEPS has subsidised nearly 60 local start-up games, with some funded companies having generated over $10 million in revenue and more than 1 million downloads, fully demonstrating the development potential of Hong Kong’s game entertainment industry. For more information on GEPS, please visit www.geps.hk.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said today (August 14) that the Government has received and completed the review of the full investigation report submitted by Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA) in regard to an incident on July 4, in which a CPA flight from Hong Kong to London’s Heathrow experienced a loss of communication with the local air traffic control unit during its flight.
The report indicated that the aircraft’s communication equipment operated normally. The incident involved the incorrect selection of radio frequency by the concerned flight crew due to a mistaken response to air traffic controllers’ instructions for another flight, and the flight crew did not subsequently realise the loss of communication.
After the incident, CPA has implemented a host of improvement measures, including enhancing the operational and monitoring procedures for the flight crew regarding the communication system, and reminding the flight crew to be more vigilant at all times.
CAD expressed serious concern over the communication loss incident and has instructed CPA to robustly follow up on the relevant improvement measures, including providing additional training and assessment for the concerned flight crew. CAD reiterated the importance of maintaining good communications between the flight crew and air traffic controllers at all times to ensure aviation safety. CAD has also instructed CPA to enhance the reporting mechanism on aviation safety incidents. CPA implemented the related improvement measures in mid-July and CAD will continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of the measures implemented by CPA.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, increased during the month by HK$13.8 billion to HK$3,694.5 billion.
The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government‑issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$2,080.1 billion.
Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$413.3 billion.
Foreign liabilities amounted to HK$139.9 billion.
The analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).
At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund’s data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s SDDS. The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund’s Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA’s policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of August 2026, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
August 7 (Issued)(Hong Kong’s Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)(Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund) Foreign Currency LiquidityCurrency Board AccountIssued at HKT 16:30
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Tentative issuance schedule for Exchange Fund Bills and Notes The quarterly schedule is issued in the second month of each quarter (i.e. February, May, August and November), covering the EFBN tenders in the following quarter.
It should be noted that the tender dates, issue sizes and issue dates projected in the advance issuance schedule are tentative. The details of new issues of Exchange Fund Bills are to be confirmed and announced at least four business days prior to the respective tender dates. The details of new issues of Exchange Fund Notes are to be confirmed and announced seven business days prior to their respective tender dates. The HKMA may make changes in the light of prevailing market conditions. Issued at HKT 16:30
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Sydney ETO supports “Harmony between Human and Nature – A East-West Music Concert” to foster cultural exchanges Presented by the Arts and Culture Association for Mindful Souls, the concert featured a unique musical journey inspired by the beauty of nature and the enduring relationship between humanity and the natural world. Bringing together traditional Chinese instruments, including huqin, dizi, sheng, guzheng and ruan, with Western instruments such as piano, cello and violin, the programme featured newly arranged classical masterpieces, popular movie soundtracks, iconic animation themes and timeless Chinese folk songs.
Speaking at the Sydney concert, the Director of the Sydney ETO, Mr Ricky Chong, highlighted the Sydney ETO’s longstanding commitment to fostering cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and Australia.
“Hong Kong is committed to strengthening its role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges. Our arts and cultural scene continues to thrive, with world-class venues such as the West Kowloon Cultural District and the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, and major international events like Art Basel Hong Kong, where creativity and technology come together to create new cultural experiences,” Mr Chong said.
He also underscored Hong Kong’s position as a leading destination for arts, culture and major events, noting that the city welcomed nearly 50 million visitors and staged more than 240 mega events in 2025.
Founded in 2020, the Arts and Culture Association for Mindful Souls brings together young and seasoned professional musicians, composers, arrangers and experienced arts administrators from Hong Kong. The members have diverse musical backgrounds spanning Chinese and Western music, jazz and electronic music. Issued at HKT 15:45
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, led a delegation to continue their visit to Hainan Province today (August 14), touring a local pharmaceutical enterprise and introducing the various measures put forward by the Health Bureau (HHB) to develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub, such as enhancing a drug evaluation and registration mechanism, as well as advancing clinical trials.
He said, “To align with the National 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong is vigorously promoting the research and development (R&D) and application of biomedicine technologies. Through the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute, the Real-World Study and Application Centre, and the upcoming establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation within this year, Hong Kong will also further improve the mechanism for new drug R&D and approval, and provide comprehensive support for innovative drugs, spanning clinical trials, regulation and approval, and inclusion in the public healthcare system.”
He also welcomed Mainland pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials in Hong Kong, making full use of the unique advantages of the city to facilitate the translation and clinical application of advanced biomedicine technologies in Hong Kong, and leveraging Hong Kong as a platform for bringing innovative drugs to the international markets.
Prior to their departure from Hainan Province, the delegation met with officials of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Hainan Province. Professor Lo briefed them on the latest developments in Hong Kong’s healthcare policy areas.
Members of the delegation include the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; the Senior Advisor (Secretary for Health’s Office), Dr Joe Fan; the Director of the Real-World Study and Application Centre, Professor Cheung Ching-lung; as well as officers of the HHB, the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority. They concluded the visit and will return to Hong Kong this afternoon.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
A spokesperson for the Hospital Authority (HA) reminded the public today (August 14) that, to further safeguard patients’ personal data and privacy, starting tomorrow (August 15), the telephone appointment system (TAS) of Family Medicine Clinics (FMCs) will only accept calls from phone numbers with caller ID for appointment booking. If patients hide their phone number before calling the TAS, the system will automatically play a recorded message reminding them to switch to a phone with caller ID and call the FMC again.
For patients with episodic diseases requiring consultation services (such as influenza or gastroenteritis), before calling the TAS of an FMC, they may first check whether the “Show my caller ID” function is enabled in the settings of their mobile phones. If a patient’s landline has opted for a per-line blocking, they should dial 1357 before making a call to display the phone number once for that specific call, or contact the telecommunications service provider to cancel the arrangement for per-line blocking.
The spokesperson for HA reiterated that the updated TAS of FMCs, which no longer accepts calls without caller ID for appointment bookings, aims to accurately record the source of each booking call, facilitate verification of patient information when necessary, and help prevent criminals from using phones without caller ID to impersonate patients when making appointments, thereby enhancing protection for patients.
The HA reminds new patients, namely those who have never registered in the HA nor used HA services, that they are required to bring their original identity documents and visit any FMC in person to register and verify their information before they can use the telephone appointment service thereafter. As for chronic disease patients, after each follow-up visit, the FMC will arrange the next appointment based on the patients’ clinical needs, and these patients do not need to make an appointment again by calling the TAS. The HA encourages patients to use the Book FMC function in the mobile application, HA Go, which is more convenient and efficient.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The Civil Aid Service (CAS) today (August 14) published its 2025 Annual Report, detailing the work of the department and the CAS in 2025.
In the foreword, the Chief Staff Officer of the CAS, Mr Leung Kwun-hong, said that the department is a government department under the Security Bureau. Its responsibilities include assisting the CAS in managing its operations and administrative work, and providing professional training and logistical support to volunteer members.
Mr Leung said that, measured in figures, the actual man-hours of the CAS in 2025 for mountain search and rescue, hill fire suppression, crowd management at major events and country park patrols increased by 8.4 per cent compared with the previous year. Member recruitment also showed encouraging results, with the number of adult and cadet members rising by 3.3 per cent. He thanked the department’s staff and volunteer members for their collective efforts and unwavering teamwork.
In the Message, the Commissioner of the CAS, Mr Victor Pang, said that looking back on 2025, the CAS faced numerous significant challenges, including the onslaught of Super Typhoon Ragasa, the emergency evacuation following the discovery of a wartime bomb in Quarry Bay, the emergency response to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, as well as crowd management for the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China, the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, and the Legislative Council General Election. Every operation bore witness to the dedication and professionalism of CAS members.
The annual report also introduced the CAS’s related skills training, new e-systems, recruitment channels and emergency knowledge for public reference. It is available on the CAS’s website (www.cas.gov.hk/eng/cas_pub/annuel_report_2025.html).