Category: MIL-OSI

Cybersecurity Service Providers Connect Programme briefing webinar for service providers held today 
     The programme aims to strengthen the connection between cybersecurity service providers and local businesses and organisations, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to assist in sourcing suitable cybersecurity solutions. After categorisation and vetting, the HKCERT will put the information of service providers meeting predefined requirements on a dedicated website to facilitate SMEs in sourcing and procuring suitable cybersecurity services. The related solutions mainly cover four service areas: Internet Security Solution, Cybersecurity Assessment Service, Managed Security and Incident Response Service, and Cybersecurity Training Service. Meanwhile, the programme also includes the provision of a cybersecurity resource hub, offering guidance on cybersecurity solutions and references for best practices in cybersecurity for SMEs.
 
     In addition to the programme, the DPO has also partnered with the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited to launch the free and integrated security service “Cybersec One” in March 2025, helping participating organisations identify website vulnerabilities, conduct risk assessments, and provide solutions to empower local secondary schools and primary schools, non-governmental organisations and SMEs to strengthen their cybersecurity resilience in all dimensions. The DPO will continue to safeguard cybersecurity in Hong Kong through fostering industry collaboration and uniting diverse stakeholders, thus promoting the sustainable development of Hong Kong’s digital economy.
Issued at HKT 17:55

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LCQ16: Manpower of lifeguard 
Question:
 
It is learnt that, due to the shortage of lifeguard manpower, some gazetted beaches managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) have been unable to provide lifeguard services during the swimming season. This includes Cheung Sha Beach on Lantau Island (comprising Upper Cheung Sha Beach and Lower Cheung Sha Beach), which the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) recommends on its website as an ideal location for water sports. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) which gazetted beaches under the LCSD’s management were unable to provide lifesaving services for the entire swimming season over the past three years due to a shortage of lifeguard manpower, together with a tabulated breakdown by the 18 districts in Hong Kong;
 
(2) given that the LCSD provides lifesaving services at its gazetted beaches daily from 9am to 6pm during the swimming season (i.e. from April to October), which of these beaches were unexpectedly closed for half a day or longer last year due to insufficient lifeguard manpower, together with the total number of closure days for each of such beaches;
 
(3) given that, in the face of the lifeguard manpower shortage, the LCSD has been outsourcing lifesaving and first aid services at public swimming pools on a trial basis since September 2024, whether the Government has studied the possibility of outsourcing the operation of beaches with greater potential for water sports development to private organisations, including the provision of water sports facilities, beach umbrellas for hire, as well as life-saving and first-aid services; if such studies have been conducted, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) whether the authorities will co-ordinate their efforts more effectively to prevent the temporary closure of beaches recommended by the HKTB due to a shortage of lifeguard manpower (for example, Cheung Sha Beach has been unable to provide lifeguard services for the past two swimming seasons), so as to avoid an adverse impact on visitors’ experiences?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has all along adopted a multi-pronged approach to increase and stabilise the manpower supply of lifeguards, including implementing various measures proactively such as increasing the salaries of seasonal lifeguards and enhancing the flexibility of recruitment process. During the swimming season (i.e. from April to October every year), in addition to civil service lifeguards, the LCSD will employ seasonal lifeguards to assist in providing lifesaving services as well as deploy serving lifeguards and other resources flexibly to maintain services at the 42 gazetted beaches as far as practicable.
 
My reply to the Hon Chan Hok-fung’s questions are set out below:
 
(1) During the period from 2022 to 2024, the gazetted beaches where lifesaving services were not available for the entire swimming season due to a shortage of lifeguards are listed at Annex. Members of the public, however, can still enjoy sunbathing and use other facilities at these gazetted beaches.
 
(2) In 2024, no gazetted beaches were temporarily closed for half day or more due to a shortage of lifeguards.
 
(3) In September 2024, the LCSD launched a two-year programme of outsourcing the lifesaving and first aid services at six public swimming pools on a trial basis. This is one of the measures to increase and stabilise the supply of lifeguards. The programme has run for around nine months, during which the service contractor has been providing stable services. The LCSD will continue to review and evaluate the implementation of the programme.
 
At present, over half of the 42 gazetted beaches managed by the LCSD are already equipped with facilities operated commercially by enterprises or organisations, including light refreshment kiosks, fast food kiosks, restaurants and canoe training centres. These operators currently provide sale or rental services (including rental of sun umbrellas, beach chairs and lifebuoys) for the convenience of swimmers. As for the feasibility of outsourcing the lifesaving and first aid services, the LCSD will take into account a basket of factors, including the outcome and experience of the outsourced lifesaving and first aid services mentioned above, the usage patterns of the public at beaches and the safety of swimmers. The LCSD will continue to actively engage with all stakeholders to jointly provide leisure experiences of better quality for the general public.
 
(4) When deciding which gazetted beaches to be provided with full lifesaving services, the LCSD will consider multiple factors, including the number of swimmers, the ancillary facilities in the vicinity of beaches as well as the views and demand of the District Councils and local communities.
 
As for those beaches where full lifesaving services are yet to be provided temporarily, members of the public and tourists can still enjoy a variety of leisure activities there, such as strolling, sand-sculpting and sunbathing. They can also use facilities such as light refreshment kiosks, barbecue pits, playgrounds and beach volleyball courts.
 
The LCSD will continue to monitor the situation of the beaches, and maintain close communication and co-ordination with relevant stakeholders (including the Hong Kong Tourism Board) to make appropriate arrangements for the general public and tourists.
Issued at HKT 11:05

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LCQ22: Technology Voucher Programme 
Question:
 
     The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) launched the Technology Voucher Programme (TVP) in 2016 to subsidise enterprises in using technological services on a matching basis to enhance their productivity. It has been reported that since the launch of TVP, a total of nearly 35 000 projects involving a total of over $6.2 billion of public funding have been approved. However, suspected abuse cases have been found in a number of projects, including: (i) individuals with the same name registering with different companies and repeatedly applying for subsidies for the research and development of the same projects, (ii) nearly 2 000 projects and over 1 000 projects being approved with the same funding amount (accurate to one decimal place and some economists have described the figures as rather “statistically odd”), (iii) some applicant companies are suspected of having no actual operational activity or having already closed down, and (iv) there are doubts about the time taken to complete the development of the approved projects (e.g. $180,000 was granted to a company that updated its website and developed its mobile phone application in a speedy manner within two days; there was also a case in which a company developed an “Intelligent Anatomical Model Measurement System” in 27 days and was granted $480,000), etc. This has aroused suspicion that there are loopholes in the monitoring of TVP. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether the authorities have conducted random checks for subsidised projects granted under TVP in the past three years; if so, of the number and content of the random checks conducted and, among them, the respective numbers of applications suspected and confirmed to be abusive; if not, whether it will expeditiously activate the investigations in the light of the aforesaid media reports;
 
(2) in respect of each application involving abuse of public subsidies or even fraud under TVP, of the follow-up actions actually taken by the authorities and the respective amounts of subsidies successfully and unsuccessfully recovered in such cases;
 
(3) as the aforesaid reports have pointed out that some companies funded under TVP closed down shortly after receiving grants, of the measures put in place by the authorities to eradicate this situation; whether enterprises receiving approved grants will be required to regularly submit data on the use of technology projects/systems for monitoring purposes; and
 
(4) whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of TVP’s effectiveness since its implementation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have assessed the actual increase in productivity, competitiveness and entrepreneurial return achieved by enterprises that applied for subsidies after upgrading their technological level?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In response to the Hon Paul Tse’s question, our consolidated reply is as follows:
 
     The Government ceased accepting new applications for the Technology Voucher Programme (TVP) after December 31, 2024. To ensure proper use of public funds, the Hong Kong Productivity Council as the TVP Secretariat (the Secretariat) has been rigorously reviewing the applications, final project reports and supplementary information submitted by the applicants, and conducting random on-site checks on individual projects in order to ensure that the applications are eligible for funding and that the project deliverables conform to relevant requirements. When submitting TVP applications, every applicant must provide documentary evidence proving its substantive business operations in Hong Kong. Relevant documents include information on business operations, financial operations and employment. If any suspicious cases are identified, Innovation and Technology Commission will immediately withhold processing the relevant cases, cease disbursing any payments, and refer them to law enforcement agencies for follow-up. 
 
     After rigorous review by the Secretariat, each eligible TVP application will be assessed based on individual merits and considered on a case-by-case basis. According to the TVP Guidance Notes, the TVP Committee/the Secretariat will assess whether the project budget is reasonable by making reference to market prices of the technologies as known to them. If a project is worthy of support in principle but the project budget is higher than the estimated price, the Secretariat will, on a modular basis, adjust the level of funding with reference to the project cost approved by the TVP Committee. Therefore, projects/technological solutions of similar nature and scale (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning System) will have the same approved amounts after the aforementioned adjustments. In addition, since the amount of funding is calculated on the basis of the funding ratio, there may be odd cents after the calculation.
 
     TVP has established rigorous checking mechanism to verify whether the approved projects are implemented. Applicants are required to implement the project in accordance with the approved application and funding agreement, and submit a final project report to the Secretariat upon completion of the project, together with evidence of deliverables (such as hardware photos and system screen captures), copy of invoice(s) and corresponding receipt(s) in relation to the payment for each expenditure item, an audited statement of income and expenditure for the project from an independent auditor (if the approved funding exceeds HK$50,000)/a final income and expenditure statement prepared by the applicant (if the approved funding is HK$50,000 or below). The Secretariat will also conduct random on-site checks on individual projects, requiring applicants to demonstrate the developed technological solutions on the spot so as to verify whether they comply with the requirements of the approved application and the TVP. Taking the cases with “progress issues” mentioned by media report and quoted in the question as an example, the final reports failed to pass the Secretariat’s assessment and no funding was disbursed.
 
     According to the TVP funding agreement, applicants are required to keep the relevant hardware and software for at least one year after project completion, and keep a proper and separate set of books and records for the project for seven years after project completion for checking. The Secretariat will conduct random checks on applicants to see if they comply with the relevant requirements.  
 
     In the past three years, the Secretariat has conducted random on-site checks on 1 860 projects and referred 15 suspicious cases to law enforcement agencies for follow-up. The Secretariat will recover the funding from applicants convicted in the cases. As the investigations/judicial proceedings by the law enforcement agencies are still ongoing, we have no record of funding recovery for the time being.
 
     To assess the effectiveness of the TVP on the funded enterprises/organisations, we require enterprises/organisations to submit evaluation reports six months after project completion on whether the project could achieve the objectives of improving productivity, or upgrading or transforming their business processes. As at end-2024, 8 587 of the funded enterprises/organisations with completed projects had submitted evaluation reports to the Secretariat. Ninety-nine per cent of them were of the view that the projects were conducive to enhancing their competitiveness. Specific benefits include saving manpower, time and/or cost, increasing revenue, and upgrading/transforming/streamlining business processes.
 
     The Government conducted a fundamental review on the TVP in 2024 and considered that the programme has achieved its original intent. In recent years, the Government has continued to strengthen support measures for different industries, and many bureaux and departments have introduced more targeted funding schemes dedicated to the specific conditions or operational needs of individual industries. It was therefore decided that TVP would cease accepting new applications after December 31, 2024.
 
The Secretariat will continue to review and enhance the vetting procedures of TVP so as to process the outstanding cases. In view of the large number of applications received before the deadline on December 31, 2024, the Secretariat has adopted a stringent vetting approach, requiring applicants to provide documents to prove that they have substantive business operations, the procurement procedures meet the requirements, and the budget and other details of the proposed technological solutions are reasonable and realistic. The Secretariat will continue to rigorously review the documents submitted by applicants for each application to ensure proper use of public funds.
Issued at HKT 11:30

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Third application announced under New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme supported by Vetting Committee and enhancement measure launched for New Industrialisation Funding Scheme 
At the same time, to further support enterprises in adopting smart manufacturing and to seize market opportunities, the ITC has introduced an enhancement to the New Industrialisation Funding Scheme (NIFS). For NIFS applications seeking funding support of no more than $2.8 million, they will be processed according to the newly established streamlined procedures to speed up the process of approving NIFS applications.
 
The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, said, “The Government actively promotes the development of new industrialisation through the NIAS and the NIFS, injecting new impetus into Hong Kong’s economy. We are pleased that enterprises are making use of the funding support from these two schemes to set up new smart production facilities in Hong Kong. Funded enterprises will bring to Hong Kong the relevant technologies and expertise of product manufacturing, driving the development of Hong Kong’s new industrialisation and diversified economy.”
 
The Government launched the NIAS in September 2024. The NIAS provides funding support on a 1 (Government): 2 (enterprise) matching basis for enterprises engaging in industries of strategic importance (i.e. life and health technology, AI and data science, advanced manufacturing and new energy technologies) and contributing no less than $200 million to setting up new smart production facilities in Hong Kong. For each project, the minimum total project cost is $300 million. Each enterprise can receive up to $200 million of funding under the NIAS. In addition, the Government encourages enterprises with approved projects under the NIAS to carry out research or increase their scale of research in Hong Kong by providing additional funding for them to engage research talent, as well as facilitating such enterprises in employing non-local talent required for setting up or operating the new production facilities in Hong Kong.
 
The NIFS aims to subsidise manufacturers on a 1 (Government): 2 (enterprise) matching basis to set up new smart production lines in Hong Kong. The funding ceiling for each project is one-third of the total project cost or $15 million, whichever is lower. Each enterprise can carry out up to three projects concurrently to receive a maximum total funding of up to $45 million under the NIFS.
 
The NIAS and the NIFS are open for applications throughout the year. Details are available on the website of the Innovation and Technology Fund (www.itf.gov.hkIssued at HKT 11:30

SCED attends China Forum in Paris, France  
     Speaking at the forum, Mr Yau remarked that Asia is currently contributing 60 per cent to global growth, and that the Asian market, in particular the Mainland market, presents a unique opportunity for businesses looking to expand their horizons across the global trade landscape. As a “super connector” between foreign investors and the Mainland market, Hong Kong serves as a perfect springboard for French businesses to tap into the Mainland market.
 
     Mr Yau said that in 2024, Hong Kong’s total trade amounted to US$1,350 billion, and was the world’s fifth-largest trading entity. Every year Hong Kong channels a massive volume of trade between the Mainland and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the most liberal free trade agreement ever offered by the Mainland, Hong Kong enterprises and professionals can enjoy the most preferential access to the Mainland market. CEPA is also nationality neutral and does not impose any restrictions on the source of investments. He encouraged the French business sector to set up company in Hong Kong to enjoy the preferential treatment under CEPA to enter the Mainland market.
 
     Mr Yau added that Hong Kong has a simple and low tax system and there is no restriction on the flow of capital. In addition to the Mainland market, French businesses can also access the Southeast Asian market by using Hong Kong as a base for their regional operations in Asia. Hong Kong is also deepening its trade ties with the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries, and is reaching out to Central Asia to explore new markets. 
 
     Mr Yau concluded that Hong Kong already has strong links with France, adding that the French community is one of the largest and most successful in Hong Kong. Among the European Union member states, France is the third largest in merchandise trade with Hong Kong and second largest in services trade. He believes that there is still significant trade potential between Hong Kong and France that would bring better synergy and mutual benefits.
 
     During his stay in Paris, Mr Yau also paid a courtesy call on Minister of the Chinese Embassy in France Mr Chen Dong to update him on Hong Kong’s latest economic and trade developments, and new initiatives such as the reduction of liquor duty to promote liquor trading.
 
     Mr Yau also visited the headquarters of Elior Group SA and its facilities to learn about the company’s operation and business development. He then hosted a dinner for representatives of the France Hong Kong Business Association to learn about the latest development directions of local enterprises and exchange views on enhancing co-operation between Hong Kong and France.
 
     Before proceeding to Paris, Mr Yau visited a wine cellar in Armagnac and met with representatives of the Armagnac trade on June 23 (France time) to promote the advantages of Hong Kong as a liquor trading hub.
 
     Mr Yau will depart for Hong Kong on June 25 (France time). 
Issued at HKT 9:00

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