Economic committee gains 13 new members
On March 31, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) announced appointments to the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Co-operation (HKCPEC).
The newly appointed chairman of the HKCPEC is professor Sung Yun Wing, chairman and professor of the Department of Economics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who will lead the group for a two-year term, effective April 1. The new term of the HKCPEC will include five academic members, six business members and two government members.
Established in March 1990, the HKCPEC advises the government on matters relating to Hong Kong’s participation in the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (PECC). Hong Kong has been a member of the PECC since May 1991.
The PECC, tripartite in nature, serves as an independent forum for discussing trade and economic issues and for fostering closer economic cooperation in the Pacific region. Currently, the PECC has 26 members.
With professor Sung as chairman, the 12 members of the HKCPEC are:
Academic sector
- Dr. Stephen Ching, associate professor, School of Economics and Finance, The University of Hong Kong
- Professor Kaye Chon, chair professor and director, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Professor Lam Kin, chair professor and head of department, Department of Finance and Decision Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University
- Professor Judy Tsui, dean, Faculty of Business; director, Graduate School of Business; chair professor of Accounting; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Business sector
- Teresa Au, head of Corporate Sustainability Asia Pacific Region,
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
- Lily Chow, executive director, Chevalier Pacific Holdings Limited
- Michael Lee, director, OXER Limited
- Edward Leung, chief economist, Hong Kong Trade Development Council
- Victor Mok, senior vice-president - Greater China, DHL Global Forwarding (Hong Kong) Limited
- Joseph Wong, managing director, China Overseas Hotel and Land Development Limited
Government
- Leonia Tai, deputy director-general of Trade and Industry of HKSARG (vice chairman of the HKCPEC)
- Elley Mao, principal economist of the HKSARG
University council chairman appointed
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region appointed Dr. Marvin Cheung Kin-tung as chairman of the council of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for a term of two years effective April 1.
The Chief Executive also appointed Dr. Michael Mak Hoi-hung as the vice-chairman of the HKUST Council for the same period. Dr. Mak is a private medical practitioner.
The HKUST Council is the governing body of the university. It consists of 33 members, including the chairman and deputy chairman who are appointed by the Chief Executive.
Snowstorm victims to receive emergency relief
On April 1, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG), on the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee, approved a grant of US$165,384 from the Disaster Relief Fund to The Amity Foundation for relief projects for snowstorm victims in the mainland China areas of Guangxi and Yunnan.
The grant is in addition to a disbursement of US$30.43 million made earlier for three provincial/municipal governments and six organizations to provide emergency relief to storm victims in eight provinces/municipalities. The latest grant takes the total for snowstorm victims on the Mainland to US$30.6 million.
The Disaster Relief Fund, which was established in December 1993, provides emergency relief to places outside Hong Kong. The Advisory Committee monitors the use of grants and advises the government on specific amounts for specific recipients.
Peh appointed to Director of Immigration
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Simon Peh is the newly appointed Director of Immigration. |
The State Council has, on the nomination and recommendation of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Donald Tsang, approved the appointment of Simon Peh Yun-lu, former deputy director of Immigration, as the Director of Immigration, effective April 7. Mr. Peh assumes the position from Lai Tung-kwok, who will begin pre-retirement leave after serving the Immigration Department for more than 34 years.
Mr. Peh joined the Immigration Department as an immigration officer in April 1978. He was promoted to senior immigration officer in August 1984, to chief immigration officer in February 1991, to assistant principal immigration officer in October 1995 and to principal immigration officer in June 2000. He was promoted to assistant director of immigration in June 2004. He assumed the post of deputy director of immigration in September 2006.
Mr. Peh has received many awards, including the Hong Kong Disciplined Services Medal in 1996, the Hong Kong Immigration Service Long Service Medal in 1998, the Hong Kong Immigration Service Long Service Medal with First Clasp in 2003 and the Hong Kong Immigration Service Medal for Distinguished Service in 2006.
Mr. Lai joined the Immigration Department in December 1973 and has been the Director of Immigration since July 2002. During his career in the Immigration Department, Mr. Lai was awarded the Hong Kong Disciplined Services Medal in 1992, the Hong Kong Immigration Service Long Service Medal in 1998, the Hong Kong Immigration Service Long Service Medal with First Clasp in 1999, the Hong Kong Immigration Service Medal for Distinguished Service in 2001, as well as the Hong Kong Immigration Service Long Service Medal with Second and Third Clasps in 2004 and 2007 respectively.
Hong Kong selected for UBPA exhibition
On April 2, the Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination announced it had accepted Hong Kong’s proposal to participate in the Urban Best Practice Area (UBPA) Exhibition at the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China (the Expo). The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government welcomed the decision, noting it was an excellent opportunity to showcase Hong Kong’s quality city life and position as a creative capital.
The Expo will be held in Shanghai from May 1 to October 31, 2010. The organizer plans to provide 55 lots for participating cities to showcase how they enhance the quality of city life. The organizer received 106 applications from 87 cities globally. An international selection committee comprising representatives from relevant agencies from the United Nations, international organizations and relevant mainland China authorities, as well as urban administrators and researchers, examined all applications. The Expo 2010 is the first to introduce the UBPA exhibition, which is set to become one of the highlights of the event.
The HKSAR Government will join with the local creative industries in participating in the UBPA exhibition. Taking into account views from the local industries, an application was submitted to the selection committee in January. Titled “Smart Card, Smart City, Smart Life,” the proposal features the smartcard systems that Hong Kong is proud of — Octopus Card and Smart ID Card — to demonstrate how the territory uses innovative ways to improve efficiency in everyday city life and to promote the connectivity within the city and with other parts of the world. The UBPA exhibition also will demonstrate Hong Kong’s commitment to pioneering innovation in society, providing creative and citizen-centric services and crafting a better and sustainable future.
The World Exposition is staged every five years. As of March 2008, 197 places and international organizations have exhibited at the event, which is expected to attract more than 70 million visitors in 2010. Besides participating in the UBPA exhibition, the government also plans to construct a Hong Kong Pavilion, organize a series of activities to promote Hong Kong and help in coordination with the overall arrangements of the Expo.
Legislative amendments on wine duty decrease
On April 25, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) published in the Gazette the legislative amendments that would be required to reduce the wine duty to zero.
In his 2008-09 Budget, the Financial Secretary proposed reducing duties on wine (and other liquors) to zero and removing licensing/permit arrangements related to duty collection.
By amending the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, the legislative proposals to be gazetted serve to put:
(a) the duty reductions, now temporarily in force, on a permanent footing; and
(b) the related licensing/permit arrangements, now temporarily retained, on permanent suspension (until and unless duties for the liquors concerned are brought back in the future).
The duty reductions already were given immediate effect on Budget Day (February 27) through an executive order made under the Public Revenue Protection Ordinance. As a result, the duty on wine has been reduced from 40% to 0%, and that for beer (and any liquors with alcoholic content less than 30%) from 20% to 0%.
As the executive order would lapse in four months, it was necessary for the HKSARG to introduce the relevant legislative amendments into the Legislative Council (LegCo) as soon as possible after passage of the Appropriation Bill 2008.
The duty reductions already have benefited consumers. A survey on the most popular wines indicates that the average retail prices have dropped by about 20%.
Relative to the same period last year, the volume of wine imports since the duty reduction has increased by about 78%. The initial market response to the duty reductions is encouraging in terms of positive impact on the further development of wine business in Hong Kong.
Upon passage of the legislative amendments, wine traders/companies will no longer be required to apply for any licenses or permits for the import or export, manufacture, storage or movement of these goods. Additionally, no evaluation of the alcoholic beverages concerned for duty purpose will be required.
The legislative amendments will be introduced into LegCo on May 7 with the hope of completing the legislative process by the end of June.
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