Skip to main content

Feb exports value down 0.8%

The value of Hong Kong’s total exports decreased to $284.1 billion in February, down 0.8% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   The value of imports of goods fell 1.8% to $325.7 billion for the same period.   A trade deficit of $41.7 billion, or 12.8% of the value of imports, was recorded in February.   Comparing the three-month period ending February with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports rose 5.5%, while that of imports also increased 3.3%.   The Government noted that taking the first two months of the year together to remove the volatility caused by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year, the value of exports posted a 16.6% growth against a very low base of comparison a year ago.   Exports to the Mainland and the US rose notably, while those to the European Union fell. Those to other major Asian markets recorded a mixed performance.   Looking ahead, the Gove

CE visits sports institute

Hong Kong athletes have captured a gold, two silver and three bronze medals in five sports at the Tokyo Olympic Games, achieving the city’s best results in history. Chief Executive Carrie Lam today expressed her utmost admiration for them.   Mrs Lam visited the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) to watch Hong Kong athletes' performances at the Tokyo Games, inspected its facilities and the site where a new facilities building is planned to be built.   She said: “We are moved by the courage and perseverance of all the athletes in competitions, with a number of them breaking Hong Kong records or their own records. Hong Kong athletes' performances have made Hong Kong people feel proud.”    She said the success of the Hong Kong athletes at this Olympic Games did not come about by chance. In addition to their tireless efforts, it was also down to the support of the coaches and support teams, the HKSI, the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and the national sports associations. The encouragement and the trust of the family members of the athletes was also the key to success.   She also thanked the commercial sector for its award schemes, especially the Henderson Land Commendation Scheme for Elite Athletes sponsored by Henderson Land Group, to encourage athletes to achieve distinguished results, as well as the help by local universities and research and development teams to leverage scientific research achievements to enhance the performance of athletes.   With the Government securing the broadcasting rights to the Olympics Games and allowing the five TV license holders to broadcast for free, citizen could therefore cheer on the athletes at different places to give athletes spiritual support, Mrs Lam added.   The Chief Executive also pointed out that the Government has been proactively allocating resources to develop elite sports in the past decade.   Its initiatives include reconstructing the HKSI and building the Hong Kong Velodrome, setting up the Elite Athletes Development Fund, providing scholarships and learning support for elite athletes, and improving retirement arrangements for athletes.   In the year of 2021-22, the Government’s annual funding for the HKSI, through the Elite Athletes Development Fund, amounted to $737 million, representing an increase of about 42% over the year of 2017-18.   Mrs Lam hoped that the athletes’ good performance at the Olympic Games will inject new impetus to Hong Kong's sports development, encouraging more enterprises and members of the public to support Hong Kong athletes and motivating more people to do exercise.   The Government will continue to support sports development in Hong Kong in terms of policy, facilities and resources.   She also called on various sectors to continue to support Hong Kong athletes to bring glory home in the competitions which will take place shortly, including the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the National Games in Shaanxi Province.
http://dlvr.it/S5GQCm

Popular posts from this blog

Legal officer changes proposed

The Government has proposed to amend the law to allow legal officers of the Department of Justice to be appointed as a senior counsel.   At a media session after attending a Legislative Council meeting today, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng explained the rationale behind the Government's proposal.   She said: “Why is it that my colleagues in the Department of Justice - who by their qualifications are solicitors but are actually arguing very well and very efficiently with great eloquence and efficacy in the Court of Final Appeal - are not being recognised when they are actually even better than their counterparts? That has always been something that sometimes troubles me.   “And for that reason, I have always been thinking about how we are going to overcome that problem.   “Now, what really triggers my determination to take this further forward is when one of our Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions, Vinci Lam, took silk on May 29.   “That really showed that the form

CE to meet Congo president

Chief Executive John Lee will meet Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo at Government House tomorrow, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced today.   The Congo president is in the People’s Republic of China for a state visit and will arrive in Hong Kong for a two-day trip. http://dlvr.it/Spnmcs

Skewed remarks about NSL rejected

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today said it strongly disapproved of and firmly rejected the wanton slanders and smears concerning the implementation of “one country, two systems” and the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong by certain US and UK politicians.   In a statement issued tonight, the Hong Kong SAR Government noted that such slanders and smears were recently made through a statement by certain members of the US Senate on the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the third anniversary of the implementation of the NSL, and by the House of Commons of the UK Parliament through a debate on the aforesaid third anniversary.   It said it strongly disapproves of and firmly rejects the unfounded remarks and slanders by the US and UK politicians regarding the Hong Kong SAR where “one country, two systems” is successfully implemented.   It also strongly urges the politicians to immediately stop acting against the international law and