Activities of the SME Service Centres

SME Service Centres' "4-in-1" Seminar Series

The Government consolidated the services of the four SME Centres in October 2019 to provide “4-in-1” integrated services.  Theme of the “4-in-1” seminar series in the second half of 2022 is “New Normal of Business after Pandemic”, continued being co-organised by the four SME Centres, with an aim to assist enterprises to grasp business opportunities under the new normal by introducing the topics including digital transformation, the latest development of technological solutions, business transformation and Government funding schemes, etc.  TecONE of HKSTP will organise the following webinar under this seminar series on 12 October 2022.  Interested persons are welcome to register at the link below.  Admission is Free.

"Exploring Business Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area after Pandemic" (Webinar)
(The webinar will be held by TecONE of HKSTP on 12 October 2022)

This webinar will analyse the recent development of Hong Kong’s capital market, the Individual Income Tax Preferential Policies for Hong Kong permanent residents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, common issues relating to Hong Kong taxation involving cross-border businesses, as well as introduce suitable Government funding schemes for Hong Kong enterprises expanding markets outside Hong Kong and upgrading and restructuring their operations, with a view to helping them tap into the Mainland market.  (The webinar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

Please click here for details and registration (in Chinese only).

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Trade and Industry Department / SUCCESS-supported Activities

I. "Are you ready for Metaverse?" Webinar

(This webinar will be live-streamed on 6 October 2022)

This webinar is organised by the Hong Kong Productivity Council.  SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  This webinar will introduce the basic concepts of metaverse and explore how individuals, industries and brands can participate in and make use of metaverse.  (This seminar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details

II. Webinar on Competition Ordinance

(This webinar will be live-streamed on 11 October 2022)

This webinar is organised by the Competition Commission. SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  In this webinar, representatives from the Competition Commission will provide an overview of the Competition Ordinance, dos and don’ts under the Ordinance, red flags of anti-competitive practices, Leniency and Cooperation Policies and competition law case studies in Hong Kong.  (This webinar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details

III. Cybersec Infohub - Annual Professional Workshop 2022: Rethink Your Cyber Security Strategy

(This workshop will be live-streamed on 12 October 2022)

This workshop is organised by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited.  SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  In this workshop, cyber security experts and members of the Partnership Programme for Cyber Security Information Sharing (also known as Cybersec Infohub) will share their experiences to help organisations building their cyber security strategy.  (This workshop will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details

IV. Lunch and Learn "Story-Based Exploration AR/VR Team Challenge" Webinar

(This webinar will be live-streamed on 18 October 2022)

This webinar is organised by the Hong Kong Productivity Council.  SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  This webinar will share how to encourage users to be creative and strengthen the self-efficacy and cohesion of a team through the interactive situational Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) script.  (This seminar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details
 

Intellectual Property Department: IP Training Programme "IP105 Strategies and Methods for Enterprises to Protect Trade Secrets" and "IP201 IP Audit and Due Diligence"

(IP105 will be live-streamed on 9 and 11 November 2022)
(IP201 will be live-streamed on 22 and 24 November 2022)

Two new intellectual property (IP) courses on protection of trade secrets, IP audit and due diligence are now open for registration.

"IP105 Strategies and Methods for Enterprises to Protect Trade Secrets" will introduce the basic concepts, forms of protection and legal basis of trade secrets, the application of trade secrets in business and the common protection measures for enterprises.  This course will be conducted by experts from the International IP Commercialization Council HK (GBA) Chapter and the Licensing Executives Society China, Hong Kong Sub-Chapter.

"IP201 IP Audit and Due Diligence" aims to enhance participants’ awareness of the importance of intellectual property audit and due diligence, their implementation and benefits, and help enterprises manage intellectual assets more effectively and engage in IP trading.  This course will be conducted by an expert from the Law Society of Hong Kong.

Interested participants may first enroll in the "IP Manager Scheme PLUS" for free by filling out an online form.  Registration fee for the courses is waived for members of the Scheme.  The two courses will be conducted in Cantonese.  Participants will receive a certificate upon completion of the respective training course.

More details for IP105
More details for IP201
 

Government relaxes certain social distancing measures with effect from 6 October

In view of the latest epidemic development and the need to contain relevant risks, the Government announced on 30 September 2022 that the relaxation of certain social distancing measures with effect from 6 October 2022.  Relevant measures concern catering premises and scheduled premises regulated under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F).  They include increasing the maximum number of persons per table for catering premises from 8 to 12; relaxing the restriction on all activities in scheduled premises with a limit on the number of persons per group from 8 to 12; relaxing the maximum number of persons per table for bars/pubs and clubs/nightclubs from 4 to 6; increasing the maximum number of persons for banquets in catering premises from 120 to 240; and lifting the suspension mechanism for cruise-to-nowhere itineraries.

For details, please see the relevant press release (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202209/30/P2022093000818.htm).
 

New arrangement of Vaccine Pass commenced from 30 September

Starting from 30 September 2022, the applicable age of the Vaccine Pass has been lowered to 5.  Children aged 5 to 11 are required to comply with the specified vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass when entering any applicable premises of the Vaccine Pass, i.e. having received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, or within three months after receiving the first dose of vaccine.  The grace period for persons aged 12 or above to receive the third dose after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been shortened to five months under the Vaccine Pass.  Members of the public should get vaccinated with no delay to comply with the vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass.

A new function has been added to the "LeaveHomeSafe" (LHS) mobile application to allow members of the public to store the Vaccine Pass of themselves and a maximum of eight accompanied persons at the same time (including children aged 15 or below, elderly aged 65 or above, or persons with disabilities, who are exempted from using the LHS mobile application), with a view to facilitating their presentation of Vaccine Pass when they enter the applicable premises together.

For details, please see the relevant press release (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202209/27/P2022092700562.htm).
 

Compulsory quarantine requirement on arrival at Hong Kong lifted

Starting from 6am on 26 September 2022 (Hong Kong Time), Hong Kong lifted compulsory quarantine requirement for inbound persons from overseas places or Taiwan and rationalised the arrangement for inbound persons from the Mainland or Macao at the same time.  The Government's goal is to minimise the inconvenience faced by inbound travellers due to quarantine requirements and allow room for Hong Kong to connect with the world as far as possible, while being able to contain the epidemic development.

For details, please see the relevant press release (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202209/24/P2022092400048.htm).
 

Pilot Scheme on Training Subsidy for Fintech Practitioners officially launched

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on 26 September 2022 the implementation details of the Pilot Scheme on Training Subsidy for Fintech Practitioners (the Scheme).

In the 2022-23 Budget, the Financial Secretary announced plans to implement the Scheme this year, so that practitioners who have attained fintech professional qualifications can receive reimbursement of up to 80 per cent of the training costs.  The Scheme will provide around 1 500 places to promote the professional development of fintech talent and expand the fintech talent pool in Hong Kong.

As the Enhanced Competency Framework on Fintech (ECF-Fintech) for banking practitioners became the first set of fintech professional qualifications recognised under the Government's Qualifications Framework (QF), the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) commissioned the HKMA to implement the Scheme for the banking sector, with assistance from the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB).  Following consultation with the FSTB and the industry, the HKMA has finalised the implementation details and officially launched the Scheme on 26 September 2022.

The implementation details of the Scheme are as follows:

• Eligible professional qualifications: These refer to the six professional qualifications under the ECF-Fintech.
• Eligible practitioners: Hong Kong residents who are employees of HKMA-licensed Authorized Institutions (AIs) and have obtained one of the eligible professional qualifications under the ECF-Fintech after completing the required training and examinations.
• Subsidy amount: For each eligible professional qualification, 80 per cent of the training costs will be reimbursed, subject to a cap of $25,000.
• Subsidy application procedures: AIs must have sponsored their employees to undergo the required training and examinations, and then submit their applications to the HKIB within three months after these employees have attained the relevant professional qualifications.

Support Measures relating to Liquidity

Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund)

The TID has rolled out an enhancement to the BUD Fund on 27 June 2022.

To further support enterprises in making use of the better protection afforded by Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPAs) to develop more diversified markets, the geographical scope of the BUD Fund has been extended with an addition of two economies with which Hong Kong has signed IPPAs, namely Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The geographical scope of the BUD Fund has been extended, in three phases since July 2021, from 20 economies with which Hong Kong has signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to cover 37 economies1 with which Hong Kong has signed FTAs and/or IPPAs.

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) as the BUD Fund implementation partner regularly organises seminars/webinars in order to enhance enterprises’ understanding of the BUD Fund.  For more details of the BUD Fund, please visit its website (https://www.bud.hkpc.org/en) or contact the HKPC at 2788 6088. 

1Besides the two newly added economies of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, the other 35 economies covered under the BUD Fund are the Mainland, New Zealand, the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Chile, Macao, the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (comprising Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Georgia, Australia, Japan, Korea, Austria, Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.