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Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The independent committee set up in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today that it will hold a conference on February 5 to give directions on arrangements for subsequent hearings.

At the conference, committee chairman David Lok will give directions on identifying relevant individuals, organisations or legal representatives to attend the hearings; the language to be used; the mode of submission of witness statements, documents, etc; and more.

There will be no presenting of evidence or examination of witnesses at the conference, which will be held from 10am on February 5 in Cantonese at the Multi-purpose Room, 3/F, City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central. Simultaneous interpretation into Putonghua and English will be arranged.

The proceedings will be broadcast live in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of the City Gallery and in the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library.

A total of about 400 seats will be available for the public. Interested individuals are required to make an online reservation in advance through the submission of a pre-registration form. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Details of the online reservations will be announced separately.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.8% in the October to December period of 2025, unchanged from the figures for September to November of the same year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

The underemployment rate rose from 1.6% to 1.7% during the same period.

Total employment was 3,667,000, down around 2,900 from September to November, while the labour force declined by around 9,100 to 3,805,200.

Looking ahead, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said the continued growth of the Hong Kong economy and the improvement in local consumption sentiment should stabilise the labour market.

“Nonetheless, the employment situations in some sectors may continue to be affected by their challenging business conditions,” he added.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Government today released the report of the Task Force on Review of Government Procurement Regime as well as the disciplinary investigation regarding the incident in the procurement of bottled drinking water and follow-up actions.

The report on the government procurement regime summarised measures focusing on four directions – institutional change, reshaping work culture, enhancement in cross-departmental information exchange, and application of technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), so as to holistically refine the tendering and procurement procedures.

A financial vetting requirement has been introduced to the tendering of goods contracts with a value exceeding $15 million since January 1, making it on par with the prevailing practice of conducting financial vetting for service contracts with that value.

Additionally, following revisions to the Standard Terms & Conditions of Tenders & Contracts (STC) that empower procurement officers to disqualify a tenderer for not being capable of fulfilling the contract terms, and to terminate a contract immediately if a contractor has made a material misrepresentation during the contract period, the STC has been further updated to stipulate that the Government may terminate a contract immediately on public interest grounds.

On the technology front, the Government Logistics Department (GLD) will adopt an AI tool to assist in information search on tenderers and contractors on a pilot basis in the first quarter this year, and the AI tool will be extended to other procuring departments for adoption subject to the trial outcome.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui, who chaired the task force, said the measures have been under implementation, adding that they will be put into practice continuously.

Meanwhile, the disciplinary investigation in relation to the bottled drinking water procurement incident has revealed that the performance of three GLD officers was not up to the standards commensurate with their ranks and experience in the procurement exercise.

According to the investigation, the lack of vigilance and judgement of these officers led to their failure to identify obvious irregularities and report to their seniors in a timely manner, resulting in the department missing the chance to detect false documents and take appropriate action earlier.  

There is prima facie evidence that two of the three officers, including one directorate officer, failed to appreciate the significance of obvious irregularities and report to their seniors in a timely manner. The Government will initiate disciplinary proceedings against them with punishment to be meted out, based on the findings of the disciplinary inquiry.

The deficiencies in the work performance of the two officers will also be reflected in their appraisals and no increment will be granted to the officers who have yet not reached the maximum salary point of their ranks.

The Government will reflect the inadequacy in vigilance, judgement, and analytical power of the remaining GLD officer in the appraisal report and will not grant that officer an increment. Written advice will also be served, requiring the officer to demonstrate significant improvement in these competencies in the future. 

Having identified the officers who failed to report the irregularities to their seniors, the investigation did not find any act of negligence on the part of former Director of Government Logistics Carlson Chan in the incident.

However, the fact that these three GLD officers failed to perform up to the standards commensurate with their ranks reflects some prevalence of such substandard performance in the department, therefore the Government decided to reverse the earlier decision to award Mr Chan the Silver Bauhinia Star.

Noting that the incident has drawn extensive attention from the public and brought serious disrepute to the Government, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung said the reversal decision was made after consulting the Honours & Non-official Justices of the Peace Selection Committee.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Health Bureau announced today that from January 27 Hong Kong residents can authorise designated medical institutions outside of Hong Kong to deposit radiology reports and images into their personal eHealth accounts via the “Personal Folder” function in the eHealth mobile application.

The new function will allow residents to store and utilise records from healthcare services received outside of Hong Kong more securely and conveniently, thereby facilitating greater continuity of care.

From January 27, residents can submit an authorisation application via the “Personal Folder” function before receiving radiology services at either of three designated medical institutions outside of Hong Kong, namely the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital and Zhongshan Chen Xinghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

They will then receive an Authorisation QR Code in the mobile application. Before receiving care at any of the designated institutions, they can present the QR code along with their Hong Kong identity card to local healthcare personnel for identity verification and authorisation.

The medical institution will subsequently assist users to directly deposit radiology reports and images from their consultations into their personal eHealth accounts.

Moreover, eHealth users can apply for the service on behalf of family members using the “Caregiver” function in the mobile application.

This upgraded function supports the deposit of high-resolution radiology images, which can be challenging for some users to upload themselves.

In addition to viewing the relevant records through the mobile application, residents can also authorise healthcare providers in Hong Kong to access them through the eHealth system during follow-up care.

The bureau has set up support stations at the three designated institutions outside of Hong Kong to assist Hong Kong residents in registering for eHealth, downloading the eHealth App and using the relevant function.

Users can also view tutorial videos on the eHealth App, or on eHealth’s thematic website or social media platforms, to learn about using the new function.

Call 3467 6300 for enquiries.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Financial Secretary Paul Chan began his five-day itinerary at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland yesterday.

In the afternoon, he met Minister of Economy of the Sultanate of Oman H E Said Mohammed Al-Saqri. The two sides discussed ways to deepen mutually beneficial co-operation in areas such as finance, trade, green transformation and industrial development.

Mr Chan observed that Oman is transitioning towards a more diversified economy, including through efforts to promote green transformation and renewable energy, and to strengthen its economic and investment ties with China. As a super connector, he said, Hong Kong is well positioned to support this process by facilitating investment by Mainland and Hong Kong enterprises to support Oman’s infrastructure and industrial development.

He added that Hong Kong can also render support by leveraging its status as an international financial centre in Asia to offer Omani enterprises a platform for fundraising and financing, as well as offshore renminbi investment and risk management products.

Mr Chan also highlighted that financial market connectivity between the two places can foster mutual development.

He expressed support for the stock exchanges and regulatory authorities of the two places to explore reciprocal co-operation, including opportunities for dual or secondary listings.

In the evening, Mr Chan attended a welcome reception for delegates to the annual meeting, and engaged with participants from around the world.