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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

MPF amendment bill passed

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui welcomed the passage of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2021 by the Legislative Council today.   The amended ordinance sets out the operating framework and mandatory use of the eMPF Platform, the mechanism to ensure a straight pass-on of cost savings achieved from the streamlined administrative work flow to scheme members and the roles and responsibilities of different parties.   It also contains miscellaneous amendments such as lowering the statutory cap on out-of-pocket expenses of Default Investment Strategy constituent funds from 0.2% to 0.1% per annum.   Mr Hui said: "The eMPF Platform will provide a one-stop, paperless, more efficient and user-oriented experience in Mandatory Provident Fund scheme administration.   “Being the most important reform initiative since the inception of the MPF System, the eMPF Platform will reshape the current decentralised operating landscape and bring about significant cumulative cost savings, in a range of $30 billion to $40 billion in 10 years of the operation, for the benefit of scheme members.”   The platform will also facilitate the implementation of full portability of MPF and open up possibilities of new measures and functionalities, he added.   The eMPF Platform building work is proceeding at full steam with a target to complete the hardware and software development by the end of 2022 at the earliest.   The Government will specify in a notice in the Gazette, the date of the mandatory use of the eMPF Platform by individual trustees and their MPF schemes in an orderly manner starting from 2023.   It will become fully functional in around 2025 when the migration of all trustees and MPF schemes is completed, the Government said.
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