Category: MIL-OSI

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OFCA and TRC sign MOU to strengthen collaboration in tackling scam and spam communications (with photo)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

OFCA and TRC sign MOU to strengthen collaboration in tackling scam and spam communications (with photo) 
     Signed by the Director-General of Communications, Mr Chaucer Leung, and the Chairman of the TRC, Mr Chenda Thong, at a bilateral meeting, the MOU seeks to strengthen strategic collaboration, support and exchange of information between Hong Kong and Cambodia in areas including regulatory practices, public awareness education and development of technical solutions to address and mitigate issues relating to scam and spam communications (including telephone calls and Short Message Service (SMS) messages).
 
     “The MOU represents a significant milestone for both jurisdictions to collaborate and share expertise and experiences in the fight against scam and spam communications. It facilitates the timely exchange and sharing of insights on emerging market trends and developments, enabling both regulators to effectively identify and address evolving scam and spam threats in Hong Kong and Cambodia. The MOU also demonstrates our joint commitment to continuously devise and enhance measures to tackle scam and spam communications effectively,” Mr Leung said.
 
     To safeguard effective operation of Hong Kong’s communications system and to protect telecommunications users against frauds, OFCA has been collaborating with telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and various government departments in implementing a range of measures to tackle scam and spam communications from the perspective of telecommunications services, including requiring TSPs to promptly block phone numbers and websites suspected to be involved in fraudulent cases, blocking suspicious calls from outside Hong Kong prefixed with “+852”, implementing the SMS Sender Registration Scheme, ensuring the effective implementation of the Real-name Registration Programme for Subscriber Identification Module Cards, etc.
Issued at HKT 18:38

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Record high numbers of companies and start-ups affirm Hong Kong’s incomparable business advantages

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     According to the results of the 2025 Annual Survey of Companies in Hong Kong with Parent Companies Located outside Hong Kong and the 2025 Startup Survey announced by the Government today (January 26), the number of companies in Hong Kong with Chinese Mainland or overseas parent companies rose to 11 070 in 2025, while the number of start-ups in Hong Kong increased to 5 221, both reaching record highs again. The results demonstrate that Hong Kong’s unique attractiveness to enterprises from around the globe continues to rise, and that the city is the ideal investment destination to set up or expand businesses.

     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said, “Even though geopolitics and the global economic and trade landscape are evolving, Hong Kong has been proactively demonstrating its incomparably unique advantages under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, as the best two-way springboard for overseas enterprises to tap into the vast Chinese Mainland market and for Chinese Mainland enterprises to go global. Together with the wide array of the latest initiatives to promote economic development, including the establishment of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global, the formulation of preferential policy packages to attract high value-added industries to Hong Kong, the accelerated development of the Northern Metropolis, the establishment of the Economic and Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur, etc, Hong Kong’s advantages will continue to strengthen, thereby accelerating the injection of new impetus to our economy and providing more opportunities for both Chinese Mainland and overseas companies based in Hong Kong.

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InvestHK achieves outstanding results in 2025 reflecting strong global investor confidence in Hong Kong (with photo)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

InvestHK achieves outstanding results in 2025 reflecting strong global investor confidence in Hong Kong (with photo)      
     The strong foreign direct investment (FDI) performance was driven by investment across diverse and high-value industries. It is estimated that the total investment thereby brought to Hong Kong’s economy has reached nearly $69.4 billion, a nearly 2 per cent increase compared to 2024; these companies are expected to create 10 748 job opportunities, covering transport, logistics and industrials, tourism and hospitality, as well as the financial services and fintech industries, with around 20 per cent in management/professional level jobs, in Hong Kong during their first year of operation, achieving more than 57 per cent of increment compared to 2024.
      
     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said, “I am happy to see the outstanding results achieved by InvestHK last year. Together with record numbers of Mainland and overseas companies and start-ups in the city, there are a clear reflection of the strong global investor confidence in Hong Kong. Our city’s unique advantages, such as enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, proactively integrating into the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and capitalising on national strategies such as the high-quality co-operation under the Belt and Road Initiative, continue to make it an important hub for businesses and investments, attracting enterprises across the globe to select the city as their base to expand regional businesses in Asia. This year marks the commencement of the 15th Five-Year Plan; the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to create an even more conducive business environment, further promote Hong Kong’s national opportunities and international advantages to attract FDI and companies to Hong Kong, demonstrating the city’s roles as a ‘super-connector’ and a ‘super value-adder’.”
 
     The top five locations of origin among the companies assisted span markets in the United States, Europe and Asia.
 

Location of origin     Among the companies assisted, the top five sectors were as follows:
 

Sectors     In addition, the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, received 2 852 applications by the end of 2025 since its launch in March 2024, which will bring in more than $85.5 billion in investments to the city.      
      
     The Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Ms Alpha Lau, said, “2025 marked a significant chapter in InvestHK’s story, celebrating a quarter-century legacy and the new horizons ahead. We will continue to deepen integration into overall national development in the 15th Five-Year Plan, strengthen co-ordination with other GBA cities, and expand engagement with our Mainland counterparts and stakeholders. We will make good use of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global to further support Mainland enterprises to go global via Hong Kong, strengthening the city’s role as a powerful conduit for two-way investment. At the same time, the Northern Metropolis is also a strategic priority that the department is actively taking forward. Through preferential policy packages, we are committed to attracting more high-potential companies to set up in Hong Kong and showcasing to the international business community the enormous potential of Hong Kong as a cross-border collaboration platform.”
      
     InvestHK’s annual report 2025 is available on the department’s website here: www.investhk.gov.hk/en/resource-centre/?type=brochures-and-guides-annual-reportIssued at HKT 9:28

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Independent Committee in relation to fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po invites public and organisations to provide information

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Independent Committee in relation to fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po invites public and organisations to provide information 
     The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today (January 26) that it is inviting members of the public and organisations to provide information on the causes and circumstances that led to the fire, and its rapid spread and related issues, from tomorrow (January 27) until February 10.
      
     Members of the public and organisations wishing to provide information can submit a form via one of the following means from 10am tomorrow to 11.59pm on February 10:
      The Chief Executive has established the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to review the causes of the incident and related issues of the fire, and to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. The Committee formally commenced its work on December 19, 2025.
Issued at HKT 16:00

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FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong’s gold market

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) signed today (January 26) a co-operation agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange during the Asian Financial Forum, marking a new milestone in deepening co-operation between the gold markets of Hong Kong and Shanghai. The FSTB also revealed new moves in six aspects relating to the development of gold market at the same time.

     The agreement was signed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (SFST), Mr Christopher Hui, and the Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, Mr Yu Wenjian, in the presence of the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee; the Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Mr Zou Lan; Member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shanghai Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Mr Wu Wei; and the Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Financial Commission of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr Zhou Xiaoquan. 

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Speech by FS at Asian Financial Forum Keynote Luncheon (English only) (with photo/video)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at Asian Financial Forum Keynote Luncheon today (January 26):

Dr Barroso (Former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Portugal, Dr José Manuel Barroso), Fred (Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Professor Frederick Ma), your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

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Primary Healthcare Commission launches Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme to provide hepatitis B screening and treatment services for higher-risk group

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission) under the Health Bureau announced today (January 26) that the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme will be launched on February 7 to identify people with chronic hepatitis B in the community at an early stage and provide long-term follow-up services, with a view to reducing their risk of having cirrhosis, liver cancer and other serious complications. Starting from that day, eligible persons may enrol in the Scheme at District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) to receive a hepatitis B risk assessment, screening and long-term management.

     The Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme is one of the key primary healthcare initiatives put forward by the Chief Executive in his 2025 Policy Address. Making reference to the service model of the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme (CDCC Pilot Scheme), the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme subsidises eligible persons to receive chronic hepatitis B screenings and treatment, as well as liver cancer screenings, in the private healthcare sector through strategic purchasing and a co-payment model.

     The Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme targets a higher-risk group. Hong Kong residents born in or before 1988 (the introduction year of the universal childhood hepatitis B immunisation programme) with no known medical history of chronic hepatitis B nor related symptoms, while having family members (including parents, siblings and offspring) or sexual partners who contracted chronic hepatitis B being eligible to participate. They have to first register as DHC members and agree to join eHealth.

     DHC staff will arrange eligible participants to undergo a free hepatitis B surface antigen rapid diagnostic test (RDT) at DHCs, and pair them with a family doctor of their own choice. Participants with positive RDT results will be subsidised by the Government to receive further blood tests at the clinic of their chosen and paired family doctor under a co-payment model to confirm whether they are infected with the hepatitis B virus. Under the general service workflow, if the result of the participant’s first blood test is positive, the family doctor will arrange a second blood test for the participant six months later to confirm the diagnosis. During the process, family doctors will promptly assess and diagnose whether a participant has chronic hepatitis B based on the participant’s laboratory results and clinical conditions, with a view to providing appropriate treatment and management. During the screening phase, participants are only required to pay a co-payment fee of $180, while the Government will subsidise family doctors for up to two consultations at a total consultation fee of $136. Participants who are not diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B after a screening can continue to receive hepatitis B-related health counselling and education at DHCs to establish healthy lifestyles (see Annex for details of the screening process).

     Participants who are diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B will enter the treatment phase, with arrangements the same as those of the CDCC Pilot Scheme. Participants are entitled to a maximum of four subsidised consultations per year for follow-up service, and they have to pay a co-payment fee determined by the family doctor (Note) for each consultation. The Government has recommended a co-payment fee of $150 per consultation. The Government will provide a subsidy of $166 to family doctors for each consultation. The same basic-tier drug list of the CDCC Pilot Scheme, which includes antiviral medicines for hepatitis B treatment, will also be adopted in the treatment phase. Participants prescribed with those drugs will not be required to pay for medication. In addition, family doctors can arrange appropriate laboratory testing services for participants with clinical needs. The list of laboratory tests and related co-payment fees are the same as those under the CDCC Pilot Scheme.

     To encourage family doctors to provide whole-person and continuous care to members of the public, family doctors can offer management for chronic diseases such as prediabetes, diabetes mellitus, hypertension or hyperlipidaemia in the same consultation for participants who have also enrolled in the CDCC Pilot Scheme. Participants are only required to pay a co-payment fee for one consultation. The consultation quotas will also be calculated in a consolidated manner. The higher number of subsidised consultation quotas for the CDCC Pilot Scheme or the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme shall prevail. As the concurrent management of the “three highs” and chronic hepatitis B requires a more detailed and comprehensive assessment and diagnosis, the Government will provide an additional fixed annual subsidy of $300 per participant to the family doctor if the family doctor has provided concurrent management for chronic hepatitis B and any of the “three highs” chronic diseases for the same participant in at least two consultation sessions within a calendar year (January 1 to December 31).

     To address the healthcare needs of the underprivileged group, if the eligible persons are recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above, or holders of valid medical fee waiver certificates, DHCs will arrange for them to receive the same chronic hepatitis B screening and treatment services at 18 designated Family Medicine Clinics of the Hospital Authority. Participants may be granted a full or partial medical fee waiver based on their relevant eligibility when receiving the services.

     Members of the public may visit the CDCC Pilot Scheme’s thematic website for more details of the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme.

Note: The co-payment fee for medical consultations set by family doctors under the Hepatitis B Co-care Scheme must be consistent with the co-payment level set under the CDCC Pilot Scheme.

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Remarks by SFST at agreement signing ceremony with Shanghai Gold Exchange (English only)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, at the agreement signing ceremony with the Shanghai Gold Exchange at the Asian Financial Forum today (January 26):

     Deputy Governor Zou (Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Mr Zou Lan), Vice Mayor Wu Wei (Member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shanghai Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Mr Wu Wei), Director Zhou (Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Financial Commission of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr Zhou Xiaoquan), Chairman Yu (Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, Mr Yu Wenjian), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

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Speech by Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services) at International Financial Week: Development & Innovation of AI & Digital Finance (English only) (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Speech by Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services) at International Financial Week: Development & Innovation of AI & Digital Finance (English only)       
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
     It’s my great pleasure to join you all at this afternoon’s parallel event of the Asian Financial Forum.
      
     Financial stability and financial development are two sides of a coin, particularly in the digital age. Today’s event on “Development and Innovation of AI & Digital Finance”, organised by the Alliance for Financial Stability with Information Technology and the Hong Kong Institution for Infrastructural Finance, is most timely. Innovation drives our future, while a robust regulatory and security regime contributes to enduring progress.
      
     Thanks to the continuous market reforms in Hong Kong that benchmark global competitiveness, and our unique connection to the Chinese Mainland market made possible by the successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong as a premier international financial centre now ranks third globally and first in Asia-Pacific in the Global Financial Centres Index. Among the specific areas, Hong Kong’s ranking in fintech has leapt to first in the world. Last year, funds raised through IPOs reached $285.8 billion, an increase of 225 per cent over that of 2024, and we regained our number one ranking for IPOs funds raised in 2025. The average daily turnover was near $250 billion, an impressive increase of 90 per cent over 2024. All these testify to the resilience of the Hong Kong financial market against all odds.
      
     In growing further the liquidity and breadth of our capital markets, Hong Kong stands ready to harness the potential brought about by technology advancement and innovations. In the financial services area, the Hong Kong SAR Government has issued three rounds of tokenised government green bonds for sustainable development over the past three years, proving with success the digitally native form of multi-currency green bonds and utilisation of central bank e-money and, in this case, e-CNY and e-HKD, in the settlement process. We have introduced legislation that allows the licensing of virtual assets trading exchanges. There are now 11 of these exchanges operating in Hong Kong, and there are more in the application process. At the moment, we are formulating legislation for the licensing regimes for the dealing and custodian services of virtual assets, after doing in-depth public consultation. Last year, as you may be aware, we also introduced and enacted the Stablecoin Ordinance that establishes a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers.
      
     One fundamental principle that applies in these innovative initiatives is “same activity, same risk, same regulation”, with clear and transparent rules on capital requirements, fit and properness for management personnel, and the segregation treatment of client and firm money. The aim is to enable the healthy and responsible development of the digital asset sector, with solid regulation and a robust ecosystem. The Policy Statement on the Responsible Application of AI in the Financial Market that the HKSAR Government issued in October 2024 carries the same spirit. In the same vein, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched two cohorts of the Generative AI Sandbox in August 2024 and April last year, providing a risk-managed framework for banks to test AI-use cases in a responsible manner.
      
     Again, financial stability is at the core of financial market development and innovation. With the impressive list of speakers today, I am sure we shall all benefit from their insights and wisdom. I wish the event every success and, with a warm welcome, I wish guests travelling from afar will have a good time in Hong Kong. Enjoy our vibrant city. Thank you.
Issued at HKT 17:20

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