Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Transport Department (TD) today (June 17) announced that the auction of vehicle registration marks will be held on July 6 (Sunday) at Meeting Room S221, L2, Old Wing, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.

“A total of 200 traditional vehicle registration marks (TVRMs) will be put up for public auction in the morning session, and 144 personalised vehicle registration marks (PVRMs) will be put up for auction in the afternoon session. The list of marks has been uploaded to the department’s website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/index.html
For the auction of TVRMs, only registration marks starting with “HK” or “XX” and special vehicle registration marks are put up for physical auction. Applicants should attend the auction and take note of the opening price as announced by the auctioneer before participating in the bidding of the mark.(ii) the identity document of the purchaser if it is different from the successful bidder;
(iii) a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation if the purchaser is a body corporate; and
(iv) a crossed cheque payable to “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” or “The Government of the HKSAR”. Any bidder who wishes to bid for both TVRMs and PVRMs on the same day, should bring along at least two crossed cheques for payment of auction prices (for an auctioned mark paid for by cheque, the first three working days after the date of auction will be required for cheque clearance confirmation before processing of the application for mark assignment can be completed). Successful bidders may also pay through the Easy Pay System (EPS), but are reminded to note the maximum transfer amount in the same day of the payment card. Payment by post-dated cheque, cash, credit card or other methods will not be accepted.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance caseload rose by 11 cases to 195,436 in May from April, the Social Welfare Department announced today.

Low-earnings cases fell by 0.9% month on month to 1,331 cases. Single parent cases dropped 0.3% to 18,882 cases.

Permanent disability cases declined by 0.1% to 16,597 cases.

Meanwhile, unemployment cases registered an increase of 0.4% to 16,157 and ill-health cases rose 0.3% to 27,775 cases. Old age cases remained steady at 110,773.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

For the three months from March to May, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5%, a rise of 0.1 percentage points compared to the figures for February to April, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

The underemployment rate also rose, from 1.3% to 1.4%, during the same period.

Total employment fell by around 12,400 to 3,664,700, while the labour force dropped by around 6,000 to 3,800,500.

The number of unemployed people increased by around 6,400 to 135,800. Meanwhile, the number of underemployed people rose by around 6,000 to 53,600.

Looking ahead, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said the pace of job creation will continue to be affected by the evolution of different industries against the backdrop of an uncertain external environment and the changing consumption patterns of both locals and visitors.

The entry of fresh graduates and school leavers onto the labour market in the coming few months may further impact the overall employment situation, he added.

He stressed, however, that he was delighted to see the economy steadily expanding, with real GDP forecast to grow by 2% to 3% this year. He also highlighted the injection of new impetus from local and non-local operators, with numbers of registered local and foreign companies reaching new heights in recent months.

The labour chief said these positive developments should render support to the labour market and sustain the momentum of Hong Kong’s economic development.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is the speech by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, at a special session of “The Great Unity – Civilisation of the Qin and Han Dynasties in Shaanxi Province” Exhibition today (June 17):

The Honourable Commissioner Cui Jianchun (Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Mr Gary Chan (Legislative Council Member), Ms Starry Lee (Legislative Council Member), Mr Holden Chow (Legislative Council Member), Acting Secretary Lau (Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau), Director Chan (Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Manda Chan), consuls-general, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, paid a two-day visit to Shanghai and met with local government officials as well as trade representatives on transport and logistics issues.

Upon her arrival yesterday (June 16), Ms Chan first had a meeting with the Director of the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, Mr Yu Fulin, and other officials to exchange views on issues of mutual interest, including traffic management, shipping and aviation. She also visited an all-electric ferry, which commenced operation in April, to learn about Shanghai’s progress in promoting green transport.

She subsequently met with representatives of the China Shipowners’ Association to give an overview of the latest developments of Hong Kong’s maritime services. She encouraged Mainland shipowners and shipping enterprises to register their ships in Hong Kong. Hong Kong ranks fourth globally in shipping registration and the quality of the Hong Kong flag has long been internationally renowned, with its port detention rate consistently among the top three lowest in the world. Additionally, the Government will introduce tax concessions for commodity trading, further generating new impetus for the maritime services sector. Combined with the market influence of Mainland shipowners and the shipping sector, this initiative will reinforce the influence of the country in the international shipping community.

Ms Chan visited the Yangshan Port in Shanghai today (June 17) to gain insights into the operations of its automated terminal. She said, “The Port of Shanghai and ports in Hong Kong are advancing in unison towards greening, digitalisation and adoption of smart technologies. The visit has deepened exchanges between the two sides on high-quality port development and allowed us to draw on Yangshan Port’s experience to facilitate discussions with port operators on a roadmap for the smart transformation of Hong Kong’s ports. The Port of Shanghai leverages technology to drive port development, and I look forward to further strengthening exchanges and co-operation with it in the future, consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong’s strengths as the ‘southern gateway’ of the country.”

She continued that Shanghai and Hong Kong are both vital shipping centres to the country, ranking third and fourth respectively in the 2024 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report. She expressed hope that through this visit and exchanges, both cities can work together to strive toward the country’s strategic goal of becoming a maritime powerhouse and explore opportunities for deeper collaboration.

Ms Chan concluded her duty visit to Shanghai and returned to Hong Kong this afternoon.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Hong Kong’s global competitiveness has risen by two places to third globally, after improving by two places to fifth last year, in the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2025, published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The ranking marks Hong Kong’s return to the global top three for the first time since 2019.

WCY 2025 finds that Hong Kong’s competitiveness has improved significantly. The city’s total competitiveness score of 99.2 out of 100 represents an increase of 7.7 points, the largest increase among the top 10 economies.

In terms of yearbook’s four competitiveness factors, Hong Kong rose to second globally on government efficiency and business efficiency. Its rankings on economic performance and infrastructure also improved to sixth and seventh, respectively.

With regard to competitiveness sub-factors, Hong Kong tops the rankings on tax policy and business legislation, ranks second globally in international investment, education and finance, and third globally in international trade and management practices.

Ahead of this morning’s Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive John Lee said Hong Kong’s scores, both in overall terms and in many specific areas, have improved, showing that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s policy course is the right one, with various policies already yielding clear results.

Highlighting that the city ranks second globally on government efficiency, he said this reflects the inherent excellence and competence of the city’s civil servants, and indicates that policies designed to make the Government more result-oriented are bearing fruit.

In addition, noting that Hong Kong ranks second globally on business efficiency, Mr Lee said this reflects business leaders’ positive views of Hong Kong’s competitiveness and of its strengths, including the rule of law, a simple tax system and low tax rates, and the free flow of capital, information, goods and talent.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Security Bureau today reminded the public to stay vigilant against suspicious calls purportedly made by Security Bureau staff, alleging that the citizen was suspected of breaking the law and required to visit the bureau office in person for verification.

The bureau solemnly clarified that this is untrue and condemned such deception tactics. The bureau has displayed an alert message on its official website to remind the public to stay vigilant against scams.

In addition to reminding people not to disclose their personal information to any suspicious or unidentified individuals, the bureau stressed that in case of doubt, they should call the Anti Scam Helpline 18222 for enquiries.

Those who have provided personal information to suspicious individuals or suspect they have been scammed should contact Police, the bureau added.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Labour Department today announced the implementation, with immediate effect, of measures under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) to safeguard employment priority for local workers.

After an employer submits an ESLS application, any other application submitted by the same employer within the following six months will generally not be processed except under exceptional circumstances, such as where the application is for renewal of an imported worker’s employment contract.

In cases where ESLS applications pass initial screening, triggering the start of a four-week local recruitment process, the department will display the names of applicant companies on the Interactive Employment Service website to encourage local job seekers to apply for the jobs.

The department will also launch a special campaign to inspect whether entities employing imported workers have continuously met the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers of two to one.

In parallel, it will require employers to report information on numbers of full-time local employees and imported workers, as well as manning ratios. Any suspected violations will be investigated and, if substantiated, administrative sanctions will be imposed on the employers concerned.

Meanwhile, the department has launched an online form on the supplementary labour scheme’s dedicated webpage to enable local employees to lodge complaints against employers over suspected violations of ESLS requirements. Members of the public may also lodge complaints by calling 2150 6363. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region