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Apr exports value down 13%

The value of Hong Kong's total exports decreased to $338.3 billion in April, down 13% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   The value of imports of goods decreased 11.9% to $374.9 billion for the same period.   A trade deficit of $36.6 billion, or 9.8% of the value of imports, was recorded in April.   Comparing the three-month period ending April with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports rose 15.4%, while that of imports increased 10.7%.   The Government noted that the value of merchandise exports declined further from a year earlier in April. Exports to the Mainland, the US and the European Union all shrank and exports to other major Asian markets recorded decreases of varying degrees.   Looking ahead, it added that the weakness in the advanced economies will continue to weigh on Hong Kong's export performance, though the expected faster recovery of the Mainland economy should

3.1m register for voucher scheme

The Government said more than 3.1 million people have submitted electronic registrations for the Consumption Voucher Scheme via its online registration portal as of 11pm today and the portal's operation has remained smooth.   In view of the relatively long waiting time for people who choose to authenticate their identity via iAM Smart, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will make adjustments.   From 3am tomorrow, those who wish to use iAM Smart to register for the scheme should use the mobile app in their mobile device for authenticating their identity and register for the scheme directly. This can help ensure that only existing iAM Smart users can choose to register using this method.   The office noted that many people who chose to register for the scheme through iAM Smart in the past two days did not have an account and hence they needed to create one at the same time.   This caused a backlog of registration requests and registration webpages left idle, thereby significantly consuming internet resources and resulting in a long queue.   The office said the adjustments will help reduce the waiting time significantly as people will need to separately create an iAM Smart account before using it to register for the scheme if they are not existing users.   People can still authenticate their identity by answering security questions related to the Cash Payout Scheme launched last year or by inputting personal information and uploading a copy of their Hong Kong identity card.   Additionally, the Government has also fine-tuned the registration procedure to extend the time limit of electronic registration from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to allow ample time for the public to do the registration.
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