HONG KONG CONNECT


	The Financial Secretary of the HKSAR announced the 2023-24 Budget The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Paul Chan, unveiled his 2023-24 Budget on 22 February, which would sustain the impetus to economic recovery in moving towards high-quality development. Mr Chan expected Hong Kong’s economic performance to pick up this year, forecasting economic growth of 3.5% to 5.5% for 2023 as a whole, while the underlying inflation rate was expected to rise to 2.5% this year. To promote high-quality development of Hong Kong, Mr Chan said that the HKSAR Government would strive to develop Hong Kong into an international green technology and financial centre. He proposed setting up a Green Technology and Finance Development Committee, inviting industry representatives from green technology, green finance and green standard certification, etc to assist in the formulation of an action agenda. The HKSAR Government also earmarked HK$3 billion to promote facilities that will further enhance basic research in frontier technology fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology and to better realise Hong Kong’s basic technology research capabilities in making breakthroughs in relevant fields. On the front of attracting enterprises and talents, the HKSAR Government would introduce a mechanism to provide facilitation for companies domiciled overseas for re-domiciliation to Hong Kong. A new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme will also be introduced to further enrich the talent pool and attract more new capital to Hong Kong. To enhance Hong Kong’s international image, the HKSAR Government will earmark over HK$250 million to be spent on mega events and about HK$300 million is reserved for staging more mega events, international meetings, incentive travels, conventions and exhibitions in Hong Kong. Read the full Budget Speech. Learn more about the Budget.

	“Hello Hong Kong” Campaign launched to promote Hong Kong around the world The HKSAR Government launched the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign on 2 February to unveil a series of promotional activities and highlight the many new attractions, developments and opportunities for visitors coming to Hong Kong. “Hello Hong Kong” is a large-scale global promotional campaign focusing on four major areas, including “Hello Hong Kong” as the over-arching theme to attract visitors to the city, sponsored visits for prominent guests, going out to tell good Hong Kong stories and launching more meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions and mega events. 500 000 free air tickets will be distributed to welcome people from around the world to come and experience the hospitality of Hong Kong in person. There are also various special offers, cash vouchers and other incentives to enrich their itinerary in Hong Kong. More details here. See the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign website here. Details of 500 000 flight tickets giveaway here.

	Chief Executive visits the Middle East region The Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mr John Lee, led a delegation for a visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 4 to 11 February. Hailing the visit as a journey to promote friendship, Hong Kong’s advantages and investment opportunities, Mr Lee said the visit helped enhance collaboration and connections between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and the UAE respectively on various fronts. Noting that the Middle East region is a key link for the country’s Belt and Road Initiative, Mr Lee said that leading the delegation to visit the Middle East region demonstrated the HKSAR’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and also its implementation of the spirit of the speech delivered by President Xi Jinping in the China-Arab States Summit held last December, fostering co-operation to achieve mutual benefits and consolidating the promotion of collaboration in areas including business and commerce, energy, finance and professional services. See the Chief Executive’s first day visit programme here. Second day visit programme here. Third day visit programme here. Fourth day visit programme here. Fifth day visit programme here. Last day visit programme here.

	Updates on Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic measures Starting 6 February, The requirement for non-Hong Kong residents to be fully vaccinated for coming to Hong Kong from overseas places has been lifted. Normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland has fully resumed. Key arrangements include opening up all boundary control points without imposing any prescribed daily numbers of people thereon; cancelling the pre-departure nucleic acid test requirement; and enabling cross-boundary students to resume face-to-face classes in an orderly manner. The pre-departure testing requirement for inbound persons from overseas places or Taiwan will be maintained. Starting 1 March, The mask-wearing requirement will be lifted. People will no longer need to wear masks either at indoor, outdoor places, or public transport. For high-risk premises such as hospitals and elderly homes, the authorities can still require people in the premises to wear mask. Read more at the Fight Against COVID-19 website.



	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the Chinese Opera Costumes on Display official launch The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, attended the Chinese Opera Costumes on Display official launch organised by the Australasian Art & Stageworks Incorporated and supported by HKETO on 2 February. Miss Lim said that the HKSAR Government has always strived to foster the development of Cantonese opera through investing in the city’s hardware and software, in order to preserve, safeguard and promote this precious local art form. The HKSAR Government is also committed to fostering the cultural development of Hong Kong to expedite its progression into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange as supported under the National 14^th Five-Year Plan. Miss Lim added that as talents are the key to arts and cultural excellence, the HKSAR Government will continue to attract more talents to nurture a diversified talent pool. Much more aggressive talent admission schemes are being rolled out and an online platform of the new Talents Service Unit has been launched. A Dedicated Team for Attracting Businesses and Talents has also been set up in HKETO to reach out to target enterprises and talents.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended Chinese New Year events organised by South Australia Chapter of Hong Kong Australia Business Association (HKABA) and Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association (HKNZBA) The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, virtually attended the Chinese New Year events organised by the South Australia Chapter of the HKABA and the HKNZBA on 3 and 9 February respectively. Miss Lim said that Hong Kong is back to the centre stage in the global arena, citing a series of major international events successfully held. She shared that the Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address had announced an array of initiatives to attract enterprises, investment and talents, including the setting up of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) and the launching of the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS). Miss Lim also highlighted the exciting developments of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) and encouraged the participants to visit Hong Kong for business and leisure.

	Reception held in Sydney to celebrate Year of the Rabbit HKETO hosted a reception in Sydney on 7 February to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, welcoming over 300 guests from various sectors. Addressing the reception in a virtual speech, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, highlighted the strong economic and trade ties between Hong Kong and Australia, noting that Hong Kong is expecting a visible rebound of the economy this year with the solid support by the country under the National 14^th Five-Year Plan and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) development. The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, said that the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign heralds the return of the city on the centre stage, and that Hong Kong heartily welcomes all visitors from around the world. More details here.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the Hong Kong 2023 Market Update in Sydney The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, attended the Hong Kong 2023 Market Update held in Sydney on 7 February. Themed “Post-pandemic Trends and Opportunities”, speakers and panellists shared in the seminar their insights on the latest developments and unlimited opportunities of Hong Kong. Miss Lim said in her vote of thanks that with the resumption of normal travel with the Mainland and the world, Hong Kong is back to the centre stage in the global arena and is the best destination for businesses and talents, highlighting the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit and the Asian Financial Forum successfully held recently. She encouraged the participants to visit Hong Kong to see for themselves its exciting developments.

	Reception held in Melbourne to celebrate Year of the Rabbit HKETO hosted a reception in Melbourne on 15 February to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, welcoming over 200 guests from various sectors. Addressing the reception in a virtual speech, the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, said that the National 14^th Five-Year Plan has indicated clear support for Hong Kong to develop into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, providing enormous opportunities for the arts and culture sectors to grow further. He shared that an array of initiatives on attracting talents and promoting arts and culture developments had been announced in the 2022 Policy Address, noting that the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is planning to build another campus to nurture more arts and culture talents. The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, highlighted the strong trade and investment ties between Hong Kong and Australia and introduced the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign. She welcomed all visitors from Australia and around the world to visit Hong Kong to experience its vibrancy. More details here.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the Hong Kong 2023 Market Update in Melbourne The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, attended the Hong Kong 2023 Market Update held in Melbourne on 15 February. Miss Lim said in her vote of thanks that the Chief Executive has announced an array of initiatives in his 2022 Policy Address targeted at attracting enterprises and talents, including the establishment of the OASES, the HK$30 billion Co-investment Fund and the TTPS which will further enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness. She encouraged Australian businesses and talents to visit Hong Kong to experience the dynamism and diversity of the city, and to explore the immense opportunities the city offers.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the Chinese New Year Lunch organised by the Victoria Chapter of the HKABA The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, virtually attended the Chinese New Year Lunch organised by the Victoria Chapter of the HKABA on 23 February. Miss Lim said that the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign has been launched to welcome people from around the globe to experience the vibrancy of the city and seize opportunities to flourish. She added that Hong Kong receives the strongest backing from the Central Government, with the National 14^th Five-Year Plan presenting a compelling positioning of Hong Kong in eight traditional and emerging sectors and the GBA serving as a hinterland of unlimited opportunities. She encouraged the participants to visit Hong Kong and put the WKCD on their “must-do list” to enjoy its world-class facilities.

	Reception held in Brisbane to celebrate Year of the Rabbit HKETO hosted a reception in Brisbane on 23 February to celebrate the Year of Rabbit, welcoming around 100 guests from various sectors. Addressing the guests, the Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, said that Hong Kong is back to the world stage with the resumption of seamless connections to the Mainland and the world. She introduced the “Hello Hong Kong” Campaign, highlighting the 500 000 free air tickets to welcome visitors from near and afar. Noting a series of mega events and giant trade shows will be held in the coming months, Miss Lim encouraged the participants to visit Hong Kong to experience the excitements. Miss Lim also shared the proactive initiatives to attract enterprises and talents, in particular the TTPS to entice high-income talents and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities and a new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to further enrich the talent pool.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the “Working and Investing in Hong Kong” networking event The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, attended the “Working and Investing in Hong Kong” networking event jointly organised by HKETO and the Queensland Chapter of the HKABA on 24 February. Miss Lim said that Hong Kong is reinforcing its position as a global financial centre, and is moving full steam towards its vision of an international innovation and technology centre. She also highlighted the proactive initiatives to attract enterprises and talents, including the OASES led by the Financial Secretary to attract enterprises of strategic importance to Hong Kong, the HK$30 billion Co-Investment Fund to co-invest in them or their projects, the TTPS to entice high-income talents and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities, and a new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to further enrich the talent pool and attract more new capital to Hong Kong.

	Director of HKETO Sydney attended the “Global Pitching Session” event The Director of HKETO Sydney, Miss Trista Lim, attended the “Global Pitching Session” event organised by the Sydney Investors, Professionals & Business Networking Group on 27 February. Miss Lim said that under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong is where the China advantages and international advantages converge, and the unique competitive edges of the city make it the best destination for business, trade and investment. She added that the Financial Secretary has announced in the 2023-24 Budget that the HKSAR Government will accelerate the development of Hong Kong into an international centre for green technology and finance, including the setting up of a Green Technology and Finance Development Committee. On innovation, key initiatives include conducting a feasibility study on the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supercomputing Centre, as well as earmarking HK$3 billion to enhance basic research in frontier technology such as AI and quantum technology. Miss Lim also highlighted the various initiatives of the HKSAR Government on attracting enterprises and talents.



	*Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show (Hong Kong and online)* The 39^th Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and the 9^th Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show will be staged at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 1 to 5 March. The twin jewellery shows are attracting more than 2 300 exhibitors from 34 countries and regions, with half of them from overseas. The fairs will draw 100 buying missions with more than 10 000 non-local buyers from 70 countries and regions. More details on Hong Kong International Jewellery Show. More details on Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show.

	*Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) (Hong Kong and online)* To be held from 13 to 16 March, the FILMART aims to promote Hong Kong as the regional hub for distribution and production of film, TV programmes and entertainment-related products in Asia pacific, and to promote cross-media and cross-sector partnership. More details here.

	*WOW Summit Hong Kong 2023 (Hong Kong)* To be held from 29 to 30 March, WOW Summit is the first large-scale Web3 event in Hong Kong after its borders reopened and COVID restrictions have been lifted. Attendees get to meet industry leaders, government officials, funds and VCs, NFT and digital artists, entrepreneurs, and multinational corporates for important discussions, networking and business. More details here.

	*Hong Kong Sevens (Hong Kong)* To be held from 31 March to 2 April, the Hong Kong Sevens is the most anticipated tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series calendar. This year, a total of 12 women’s teams and 16 men’s teams will compete in more than 70 matches over three days in front of 38 000 spectators at the Hong Kong Stadium, marking the tournament’s return to full glory since the pandemic. More details here.

Updates on Latest Situation in Hong Kong