Category: MIL-OSI

LegCo Panels elect Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen 
     The 18 Panels of the Legislative Council (LegCo) have elected their Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen for the 2026 session today (January 23). Details are available in the Attachment.
 
     For membership of the Panels, please visit the LegCo Website (https://www.legco.gov.hk/en/legco-business/committees/panels-and-subcommittees.htmlIssued at HKT 18:52

FS concludes attendance at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (with photos/video)      
     In the morning, Mr Chan attended a thematic session titled “How to Finance Decarbonization?” and served as a speaker. The session focused on how, amid global economic slowdown, high debt levels in advanced economies and geopolitical developments, public-private collaboration can continue to support the goal of achieving carbon neutrality.
      
     During the discussion session, Mr Chan pointed out that both the country and Hong Kong are firmly and steadily progressing towards the goal of carbon neutrality. He shared Hong Kong’s target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and the strategies to realise it. These include leveraging government policy to steer behavioural changes among enterprises and consumers, such as providing tax concessions for electric vehicles and incentives for green buildings. He also mentioned financial support for trials of innovative technologies, such as sustainable hydrogen-powered transport, to encourage innovation.
      
     As an international financial centre, Hong Kong actively facilitates private capital participation in the decarbonisation process through a rich green finance ecosystem, such as green bonds and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government also encourages financial innovation, including the issuance of tokenised green bonds to allow wider investor participation in green projects, and the securitisation of loans for infrastructure projects to release capital for reinvestment into new projects.
      
     Mr Chan stressed that public support and trust are key to achieving a green transition. The HKSAR Government ensures that funds are genuinely used for green projects by formulating internationally aligned standards, including a green taxonomy and disclosure requirements. For high-emission enterprises, such as mining companies, listing in Hong Kong not only enables them to access capital to support their development but also helps enhance their corporate governance, transparency and recognition in global markets.
      
     Mr Chan also continued to meet with leaders from political, business and international organisations yesterday, including the President and Chief Executive Officer of the WEF, Mr Børge Brende, and the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Mr Dan Katz, to exchange views on global finance and issues of mutual concern, and to share Hong Kong’s perspective.
      
     Mr Chan also held separate meetings with the Global Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr Mohamed Kande; the Chief Executive Officer of AXA Group, Mr Thomas Buberl; and the Vice President of Global Public Policy of Amazon Web Services, Mr Michael Punke, to exchange views on the current global economic and market situation, as well as technological development.
      
     Mr Chan has concluded his visit to Davos. He will depart Switzerland today (January 23, Davos time), and return to Hong Kong on Saturday morning (January 24, Hong Kong time).
Issued at HKT 9:00

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Legal notices for onboarding of Mandatory Provident Fund industry schemes to eMPF Platform gazetted 
(i) the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Specification of Dates for Purposes of Section 19M(2)(a)) (Amendment) Notice 2026 (Mandatory Use (Amendment) Notice 2026);
 
(ii) the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19U(4)) (Amendment) Notice 2026, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19Y(3)) (Amendment) Notice 2026, and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Appointment of Dates for Purposes of Section 19Z(4)) (Amendment) Notice 2026 (collectively Fee Control (Amendment) Notices 2026); and
 
(iii) the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (Commencement) Notice 2026 (Commencement Notice 2026).
 
     The Mandatory Use (Amendment) Notice 2026 specifies March 26, 2026, and April 30, 2026, as “material day” for the BCT (MPF) Industry Choice administered by the Bank Consortium Trust Company Limited (BCT) and the BEA (MPF) Industry Scheme administered by the Bank of East Asia (Trustees) Limited (BEA) respectively, such that BCT and BEA are mandated to use the eMPF Platform to perform scheme administration functions in relation to these MPF schemes. On cost savings and fee-setting of the MPF scheme to be charged by the MPF trustee on scheme members, the Fee Control (Amendment) Notices 2026 appoint June 26, 2026, and July 30, 2026, as respective “material day” for the constituent funds of the MPF schemes mentioned above, such that BCT and BEA are mandated to make corresponding reduction in their fees charged on scheme members in relation to the constituent funds of these MPF schemes.
 
     The Commencement Notice 2026 appoints April 30, 2026, as the day on which sections 80, 100 and 106 of the Amendment Ordinance 2021 come into operation, such that the transfer of accrued benefits between trustees could be streamlined. The Commencement Notice 2026 also appoints October 5, 2026, as the day on which the remaining provisions set out in section 1(3)(b) of the Amendment Ordinance 2021 come into operation, such that the eMPF Platform Company Limited is mandated to maintain a new central register whilst repealing the two existing registers on personal accounts and unclaimed benefits maintained by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority.
 
     “With the onboarding of all MPF schemes to the eMPF Platform, it is anticipated that over 10 million MPF scheme members could enjoy fee reductions, representing more than 90 per cent of all scheme member accounts. At the same time, the Government will make use of the favourable conditions created by the eMPF Platform to implement other MPF reform initiatives, including the Phase One Proposal of MPF ‘Full Portability’ for which legislative amendments were completed last year,” a spokesperson for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said.
 
     If scheme members/employers have any questions regarding the detailed operation of the eMPF Platform, they may visit the Platform’s official website (empf.org.hk), or call the Platform’s customer service hotline (183 2622).
 
     The aforementioned legal notices will be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on January 28, 2026.
 
Issued at HKT 11:00

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Tenders invited for development of Advanced Construction Industry Building in Tsing Yi      
     A spokesman for the Development Bureau (DEVB) said that the ACIB in Tsing Yi, covering an area of about three hectares, will be the first multi-storey advanced facility dedicated to the construction industry, aiming to drive the adoption of advanced construction technologies and enhance productivity and efficiency through synergy. It will facilitate the sustainable development of the construction industry and enable better land use. The land is being used by a low-density steel rebar prefabrication yard under a short-term tenancy. The Government will utilise the land to develop the multi-storey ACIB, providing more floor areas to set up advanced manufacturing facilities related to the construction industry. Construction is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2026, with commissioning targeted for 2028.
      
     The 2025 Policy Address announced that the DEVB would take forward the ACIB project to provide a dedicated facility for the construction industry, featuring a multi-storey design to house steel rebar prefabrication yards, processing sites for Multi-trade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MiMEP), and other advanced manufacturing facilities, so as to promote wider adoption of high productivity construction methods in the industry and enhance new quality productive forces. In May 2025, the DEVB invited the market to submit expressions of interest for this project and offer innovative and practicable suggestions on the relevant advanced facilities in the building. The Bureau subsequently reviewed seven submissions received mainly from local and Mainland contractors and operators related to the construction industry. The views collected were used to formulate the details of the open tender.
      
     Under the 30-year contract adopting a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) approach, the successful tenderer will be responsible for project financing, design, construction and operation. Upon expiry of the contract, the whole building including all manufacturing facilities and equipment shall be transferred to the Government. Advanced production facilities to be provided in the ACIB shall include:

(1) Not less than 15 000 square metres of floor area for steel rebar prefabrication yards;
(2) Not less than 5 000 sq m of floor area for MiMEP processing sites; and
(3) Not less than 5 000 sq m of floor area for lease to the industry for operating steel rebar prefabrication yards or MiMEP processing sites.      
     Under the two-envelope tender arrangement, a weighting of 70 per cent will be allocated to the assessment of the non-price proposal and 30 per cent to the price proposal. The tender must comply with both the non-price and price requirements. The assessment criteria for the non-price proposal mainly include the tenderer’s experience in managing and operating manufacturing facilities relevant to the construction industry, the overall planning and design of the building, innovative technologies for constructing and operating the advanced manufacturing building and facilities, the annual production capacity of the facilities, and other proposed advanced manufacturing facilities. The detailed assessment criteria are set out in the tender documents.
      
     The tender notice was gazetted today and uploaded to the DEVB’s website (www.devb.gov.hk/en/tender_notices/index.html      
     For enquiries, please call 3509 8672 during office hours.
Issued at HKT 11:00

Tenders invited for road improvement works at Tai Kei Leng Road and Yuen Ching Road for Yuen Long South New Development Area Second Phase Development 
     The works mainly include:
(1) site clearance and formation (including land decontamination works), together with the provision of associated engineering infrastructure;
(2) realignment and widening of the existing Tai Kei Leng Road;
(3) extension of the existing Yuen Ching Road to connect Long Ho Road;
(4) construction of associated works including Pai Laus, noise barriers, junction improvement works, cycle tracks, footpaths, water supply system, sewerage system, drainage system, nullah deckings, slope works, retaining walls, landscaping works, electrical and mechanical works and other ancillary works; and
(5) implementation of environmental mitigation measures for the works mentioned above. 

     The works are scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2026 and will take about 38 months to complete.
      
     The CEDD has commissioned AECOM Asia Company Limited to design and supervise the works. Interested contractors may download the tender forms and other particulars from the e-Tendering System (e-TS). Tenderers must submit tenders in electronic format via the e-TS.
      
     Details of the tender notice are available on the CEDD website (www.cedd.gov.hk/eng/tender-notices/contracts/tender-notices/index.htmlIssued at HKT 11:00

Business expectations for the first quarter of 2026      
Business Situation
      
     For all surveyed sectors taken together, the proportion of respondents expecting their business situation to be better (11%) in Q1 2026 over the preceding quarter is lower than that expecting it to be worse (14%).
      
     When compared with the results of the Q4 2025 survey round, the proportion of respondents expecting a better business situation in Q1 2026 is 11%, slightly lower than the corresponding proportion in Q4 2025 (13%). At the same time, the proportion of respondents expecting a worse business situation had slightly decreased from 15% in Q4 2025 to 14% in Q1 2026.
      
     Analysed by sector, respondents in most of the surveyed sectors expect their business situation to decrease on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q1 2026 as compared with Q4 2025. In particular, significantly more respondents in the construction and accommodation and food services sectors expect their business situation to be worse in Q1 2026 as compared with Q4 2025. On the other hand, in the financing and insurance sector, significantly more respondents expect their business situation to be better, as compared to those expecting it to be worse.
      
     The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. In this type of survey on expectations, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents’ perception of the future accords with the underlying trends. The enumeration period for this survey round was from December 1, 2025 to January 9, 2026. 
      
Volume of Business/Output
      
     Respondents in most of the surveyed sectors expect their volume of business/output to decrease on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q1 2026 as compared with Q4 2025. In particular, significantly more respondents in the accommodation and food services and construction sectors expect their volume of business/construction output to decrease in Q1 2026 over Q4 2025. On the contrary, in the financing and insurance sector, more respondents expect their volume of business to increase, as compared to those expecting it to decrease.
      
Employment
      
     Respondents in half of the surveyed sectors expect their employment to remain broadly unchanged in Q1 2026 as compared with Q4 2025. However, significantly more respondents in the construction sector expect their employment to decrease in Q1 2026 over Q4 2025. On the contrary, in the manufacturing and real estate sectors, more respondents expect their employment to increase, as compared to those expecting it to decrease.
      
Selling Price/Service Charge
      
     Respondents in most of the surveyed sectors expect their selling prices/service charges to remain broadly unchanged in Q1 2026 as compared with Q4 2025. However, more respondents in the construction sector expect their tender prices to go down in Q1 2026 over Q4 2025.
      
Commentary
      
     A Government spokesman said that the overall near-term business outlook among large enterprises was largely stable for the first quarter of 2026, while the overall hiring appetite showed some slight easing. 
      
     Looking forward, the spokesman said that the continued positive momentum of the Hong Kong economy will support local business sentiment. Meanwhile, the Government will stay vigilant to the various uncertainties in the external environment.
      
Further Information
      
     The survey gathers views on short-term business performance from the senior management of about 570 prominent companies in various sectors in Hong Kong with a view to providing a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for predicting the short-term future economic performance of the local economy.
      
     The survey covers 10 major sectors in Hong Kong, namely manufacturing; construction; import/export trade and wholesale; retail; accommodation and food services (mainly covering services rendered by hotels and restaurants); transportation, storage and courier services; information and communications; financing and insurance; real estate; and professional and business services sectors.
      
     Views collected in the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own companies rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in, and are limited to the expected direction of quarter-to-quarter change (e.g. “up”, “same” or “down”) but not the magnitude of change. In collecting views on the quarter-to-quarter changes, if the variable in question is subject to seasonal variations, respondents are asked to provide the expected changes after excluding the normal seasonal variations.
      
     Survey results are generally presented as “net balance”, i.e. the difference between the percentage of respondents choosing “up” and that choosing “down”. The percentage distribution of respondents among various response categories (e.g. “up”, “same” and “down”) reflects how varied their business expectations are. The “net balance”, with its appropriate sign, indicates the direction of expected change in the variable concerned. A positive sign indicates a likely upward trend while a negative sign indicates a likely downward trend. However, the magnitude of the “net balance” reflects only the prevalence of optimism or pessimism, but not the magnitude of expected change, since information relating to such magnitude is not collected in the survey.
      
     Furthermore, owing to sample size constraint, care should be taken in interpreting survey results involving a small percentage (e.g. less than 10%) of respondents in individual sectors.
      
     Chart 1 shows the views on expected changes in business situation for the period Q1 2025 to Q1 2026.

     Table 1 shows the net balances of views on expectations in respect of different variables for Q1 2026.
      
     The survey results are published in greater detail in the “Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey, Q1 2026”. Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1110008&scode=300            
     Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Business Expectation Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7263; E-mail: business-prospects@censtatd.gov.hkIssued at HKT 16:30

Marine fish culture licences for operation in Mirs Bay fish culture zone open for applicationsIssued at HKT 16:33

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CSTB convenes meeting to co-ordinate preparation for visitor arrivals to Hong Kong during Chinese New Year Golden Week of Mainland       
     The meeting was chaired by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, with representatives from government departments including the Hong Kong Police Force, the Immigration Department, Hong Kong Customs, the Transport Department, and various District Offices attending. Representatives from various tourism-related organisations including the Travel Industry Authority, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, major tourist attractions and the hotel industry also attended.
      
     Miss Law said, “We are approaching the nine-day Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, and various districts in Hong Kong will host a variety of festive events to create a rich New Year ambience for residents and visitors. We estimate a notable increase in visitor arrivals during the Chinese New Year Golden Week. Relevant departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will maintain close liaison with relevant organisations and the travel trade to make early preparation and planning with a view to providing a high-quality travel experience for visitors, allowing them to enjoy Hong Kong’s unique festive atmosphere.”
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     Relevant parties will continue to maintain close communication before the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland to plan and take forward various preparations for welcoming visitors to Hong Kong and report the latest situation in a timely manner to the interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration.
Issued at HKT 16:43

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