Activities of the SME Service Centres

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

The Government consolidated the services of the four SMEs 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 SMEs centres, with an aim to assisting enterprises to grasp business opportunities and expand new markets under the new normal by introducing the topics including digital transformation, the latest development of technological solutions, business transformation and Government funding schemes, etc.  SUCCESS of TID, SME One of HKPC and SME ReachOut would organise the following webinars and activity under this seminar series on 15 and 20 December 2022.  Interested persons are welcome to register at the link below.  Admission is Free.

I. Taxation Series on Starting Business in GBA (II): Taxation Guide for Business Operation (Webinar)

(This webinar will be held by SUCCESS of TID on 15 December 2022)

With the rapid development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the aspirations of residents and enterprises of Hong Kong to capitalise on the development opportunities of the GBA and to enter the Mainland market are rising.  This webinar will explain the tax issues Hong Kong enterprises may encounter in doing businesses in the GBA, including remitting capital to Hong Kong, bringing in investors, selling off the investment, etc.  The speaker will also share tax tips for operating businesses in the GBA and answer questions in the Q&A session, with a view to assisting Hong Kong enterprises in seizing the opportunities in the GBA.  (This webinar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

For details and registration, please click here
 

II. InnoPreneur MeetUp: All About MetaVerse Series: Web 3.0 Fiesta

(This Fiesta will be held by the SME One of HKPC on 15 December 2022 at HKPC Building)

The Experts’ Chitchat session of this Fiesta will introduce Web 3.0 and the associated business opportunities.  Technology companies are also invited to showcase their Web 3.0 solutions and best practices, providing participants with interactive experience of Web 3.0 solutions, with a view to assisting SMEs to understand Web 3.0 and explore business opportunities.  (This activity will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More details and registration
 

III. Stay Green • Be “Fund” (Webinar)

(This webinar will be held by SME ReachOut on 20 December 2022)

At this webinar, industry expert and representatives of relevant funding scheme secretariats will share the latest trends of the environmental industry and their first-hand information of the Cleaner Production Partnership Programme and the Recycling Fund, with a view to assisting SMEs to explore green business trends and sustainable development for businesses.  (This webinar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More details and registration

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TID / SUCCESS-supported Activities

I. Leadership & Management Seminar Series “Data-driven Leadership and Digital Transformation”

(This seminar will be live-streamed and held at Pico Tower in hybrid mode on 21 December 2022)

This seminar is organised by The Hong Kong Management Association.  SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  This seminar will explain how enterprises of different sizes can utilise data to better understand the innovation and technology (I&T) trends in order to enhance competitiveness and create business opportunities.  It will also share how to nurture I&T talents to boost I&T development in Hong Kong.  (Admission fee is required.  This webinar will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details (in Chinese only)

II. Metaverse Series: All You Need to Know About NFT (Non-fungible token) (Course)

(This course will be held on 6, 13, 20 and 27 January 2023 at HKPC Building)

This course is offered by the HKPC.  SUCCESS is one of the supporting organisations.  This course will dive deep into NFT, from basic knowledge to business applications.  (Admission fee is required.  This course will be conducted in Cantonese.)

More Details
 

83 companies honoured at 2021-22 Hong Kong Awards for Industries (HKAI)

Eighty-three local companies were honoured on 28 November 2022 at the 2021-22 HKAI presentation ceremony officiated by Mr Chan Kwok-ki, the Chief Secretary for Administration.

Press release

HKAI website
 

Government adjusted five anti-epidemic measures with effect from 14 December 2022

Having assessed the epidemic development and taking into consideration the need for resuming social and economic activities, the Government announced on 13 December 2022 adjustments to a series of anti-epidemic measures with effect from 14 December 2022, such that citizens' daily lives may continue to resume normalcy in an orderly manner, including:

(1) Lifting the requirement of scanning the "LeaveHomeSafe" (LHS) venue QR code before entering premises

Considering the epidemic development, starting from 14 December 2022, the Government has lifted the requirement of scanning the LHS venue QR code before entering premises (including government buildings and premises).  Premises operators are no longer required to display LHS venue QR codes.  The LHS mobile application functions such as storing Vaccine Pass, Testing Registration Code and testing records can still be used.

Meanwhile, the existing Vaccine Pass arrangement remains unchanged (see this webpage for details).  Members of the public entering any premises to which the Vaccine Pass applies are still required to comply with the vaccination requirements (in general three doses for persons aged 12 or above; two doses for persons aged 5 to 11).  In premises with higher risk of transmission where members of the public would in general be mask-off for eating/drinking or activities, they are still required to present their Vaccine Pass QR code (through LHS, "iAM Smart" or "eHealth" mobile applications, or using paper copy/screenshots in mobile phone) to premises operators for checking with mobile application.

Other existing social distancing measures remain unchanged.  Details of the restrictions under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) to be in force during the period from 14 to 28 December 2022 are set out at Annex.  The Government will continue to review social distancing measures regularly with regard to the epidemic development.

(2) Lifting the Amber Code arrangement under the Vaccine Pass

According to the data from recent months, the positive case detection rate among inbound persons under the "test-and-go" arrangement is similar to that of the local community.  Despite the increase in number of imported cases along with the rise in number of inbound persons after the lifting of inbound quarantine arrangement, the number of imported cases still accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total number of confirmed cases locally.  Therefore, starting from 14 December 2022, the Government has lifted the Amber Code arrangement under the Vaccine Pass, i.e. the restriction of entering various types of premises (including catering business premises) has been lifted.  Other than infected persons, who are subject to the Red Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass, all other persons are issued with Blue Code.

For the purpose of epidemic surveillance and proper risk management, inbound persons from overseas places or Taiwan are still required to undergo nucleic acid tests under the "test-and-go" arrangement on the day of arrival at Hong Kong.  Relevant inbound persons should return to their places of residence directly after leaving the airport, and leave the places only after obtaining the "test-and-go" nucleic acid test result.  In accordance with the existing arrangement, inbound persons are still required to undergo nucleic acid tests on Day 2 after arrival at Hong Kong, as well as daily rapid antigen tests (RATs) until Day 5 after arrival at Hong Kong.

(3) Lifting the rapid nucleic acid test arrangement at control points for persons travelling to the Mainland

To tie in the Mainland's anti-epidemic efforts, the Government required persons travelling to the Mainland or Macao to undergo an additional rapid nucleic acid test at the land boundary control points or the airport since March 2022, apart from holding a negative result proof of a nucleic acid test within 48 hours.  Only those who received a negative result could continue with their journeys.  With reference to the latest anti-epidemic measures in the Mainland, in particular the inbound testing requirements of the Mainland, the Government has lifted the additional pre-departure nucleic acid test arrangement at the control points for persons travelling to the Mainland or Macao starting from 14 December 2022.  Relevant travellers are still required to obtain a negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours prior to boarding (for travellers departing via the airport) or departure (for travellers departing via land boundary control points) as required by the destination.

Furthermore, along with the lifting of Amber Code and special nucleic acid test arrangement for travelling to the Mainland or Macao, inbound persons from overseas places or Taiwan who comply with the relevant requirements for entering the Mainland may travel directly to the Mainland or Macao via Hong Kong control points (i.e. Shenzhen Bay Port, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port and the Hong Kong International Airport currently) without any waiting for conversion of the Amber Code to a Blue Code.  The relevant requirements include obtaining a negative nucleic acid test result conducted within 48 hours (including self-paid negative nucleic acid test result from community testing centres (CTCs)/community testing stations (CTSs)).

(4) Adjusting local testing strategies, including reducing the scope of target groups for regular nucleic acid testing

The Government will continue to use nucleic acid testing more precisely to focus resources in protecting high-risk premises and groups.

In light of the epidemic development, the Government reduced the scope of target group for regular nucleic acid testing starting from 14 December 2022.  The relevant requirements for regular nucleic acid testing only apply to high-risk group (i.e. the Hospital Authority staff, as well as staff members of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs)).

In other words, the following groups are no longer required to undergo regular nucleic acid testing under the new arrangement.  However, the Government appeals to staff to conduct RATs themselves on a regular basis and report positive results:

(i) Airport staff;
(ii) Working staff of quarantine centres / facilities and relevant designated transport;
(iii) Staff of container terminals and shipping services;
(iv) Working staff of CTCs/CTSs and ad-hoc mobile specimen collection stations; (v) Slaughterhouse practitioners;
(vi) Cold store practitioners;
(vii) Performers at catering premises/scheduled premises;
(viii) Crew members and passengers of "cruise-to-nowhere" itineraries;
(ix) Staff members of catering business/scheduled premises who do not meet the vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass;
(x) Construction site personnel; and
(xi) School staff.

The Government is in parallel reducing the issuance of compulsory testing notices to residential buildings gradually, and abolishing the testing arrangements for imported frozen food and its packaging samples.  The Government will review the demand for community testing and adjust the number and opening hours of CTCs/CTSs at an appropriate juncture.

The current requirements for RATs (including arrangements applicable to bars/pubs, banquet activities, residents of RCHEs/RCHDs, performers at catering premises/scheduled premises and staff members who do not meet the vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass, as well as students and school staff, etc.) remain unchanged.  The Government will continue to distribute RAT kits in the community.  Members of the public are encouraged to conduct RATs voluntarily, in particular those with symptoms should test as soon as possible, and report positive results to facilitate early case detection.

(5) Lifting the requirement for persons under home isolation to put on electronic wristbands

As infected persons are currently restricted by the Red Code, such that they are prohibited from entering various types of premises, the risk of spreading the virus in the community by infected persons has been effectively reduced.  The Government has decided to lift the requirement for persons under home isolation to put on electronic wristband.  Government staff will continue to distribute anti-epidemic kits to infected persons under home isolation and close contacts under home quarantine, and ascertain whether the relevant individuals have stayed at their home by making random calls or conducting spot checks.

For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202212/13/P2022121300859.htm.
 

Government adjusted isolation, quarantine and testing arrangements with effect from 9 December 2022

The Government announced on 8 December 2022 that starting from 9 December 2022, persons infected with COVID-19 may be discharged from isolation on Day 5 at the earliest if they obtain negative RAT results on both Day 4 and Day 5 of the isolation period.  For close contacts of infected persons, they will be discharged from quarantine on Day 5 if negative results are obtained in all the daily RATs during the five-day quarantine period, and are not required to undergo further tests.  Daily RAT requirement for inbound persons from Taiwan or overseas places is also adjusted to until Day 5 after arrival at Hong Kong.

In view of the latest epidemic development and risk assessment, and considering the experience of shortening the quarantine period for certain targeted groups, the Government decided to adjust isolation, quarantine and testing arrangements applicable to all persons (regardless of their vaccination status) as follows –

• In principle, the isolation period for infected persons is still 14 days.  If the infected persons obtain negative RAT results on both Day 4 and Day 5 after tested positive (the day following testing or collection of sample is counted as Day 1; if there is no such testing or sample collection record, the day on receiving the test result is counted as Day 1), they may be discharged from isolation early after reporting the testing result on Day 5.  If they obtain one positive RAT result in any of these two days, they are required to undergo RATs and obtain negative results on any two subsequent consecutive days during the isolation period and report the testing results in order to be discharged from isolation.
• The quarantine period for close contacts is adjusted to five days.  Close contacts are required to conduct daily RATs during the quarantine period.  If they obtain negative results in all the daily RATs, they will be discharged from quarantine on Day 5.  If any of the test results is positive, they should report to the Department of Health immediately.

FEHD releases Practical Guide on Take-away Meal and Meal Delivery Services

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) released a "Practical Guide on Take-away Meal and Meal Delivery Services" on 30 November 2022, laying down the general hygiene and food safety guidelines for handling and delivery of meals ready for consumption for reference and observance by relevant business operators such as food premises and food delivery agents, so as to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases.

According to the practical guide, food for take-aways or delivery should be kept at the proper storage temperature as far as practicable before packing and during delivery, that is cold foods at or below 4 degrees Celsius and hot foods at above 60 degrees Celsius.  In the course of transportation, in case a food warming device and food refrigerating device is not available for hot food and cold food respectively, all food should be delivered to the customers within one hour after preparation.  Suitable containers with fitted coverings or sealed packaging should be used to contain the food, while specific packaging design or tamper-evident devices should be used to prevent food tampering.  The storage compartments of the vehicles for food transportation and delivery containers should be cleaned thoroughly before and after each delivery and maintained in good condition.

Furthermore, food premises should prepare food in time for the delivery and avoid cooking too far in advance.  All delivery records should be kept by online food platforms or delivery agents for 60 days for tracking by the authorities in case of a foodborne outbreak or recall.  Clear delineation of responsibilities between the food premises and the online food platform or delivery agent on all customer complaints in respect of the quality of the ordered meals and any consequential effects thereof should also be set out in the relevant contractual agreements.  Food premises, online food platforms or delivery agents should also provide adequate training to their food deliverers on basic food safety principles.

To ensure food safety and public health, licensed food premises providing take-away and food delivery services (including online sale of food) must adhere to relevant licensing conditions, including the requirements on food containers, food storage and temperature for food delivery.

The guide and the relevant frequently asked questions are now available at the FEHD website: https://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/guide_general_reference/practical_guide_take_away_delivery_services.html.

Furthermore, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has also released "Takeaways and Meal Delivery: Food Safety Advice for Food Businesses and Consumers" to assist the food trade and consumers in implementing appropriate food safety measures.  Details of the Advice are available at the CFS website: https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/files/5-takeaways.pdf.

For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202211/30/P2022113000154.htm.
 

Pilot project for prioritising examination of qualified invention patent applications filed by Hong Kong applicants in Mainland to be launched on 1 January 2023

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) of Hong Kong and the intellectual property (IP) authorities of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen, will launch a pilot project on 1 January 2023, for prioritising examination of qualified invention patent applications filed by Hong Kong applicants in the Mainland.

The Commissioner of the CNIPA, Dr Shen Changyu, announced the commencement of the pilot project on 1 December 2022 at the Business of IP Asia Forum.  The pilot project will facilitate Hong Kong applicants in seeking patent protection in the Mainland to safeguard the exploitation and commercialisation of their inventions, contributing to the innovation and technology development in Hong Kong.

Under the pilot project, Hong Kong applicants for invention patent applications which meet the relevant criteria may request prioritised examination of their applications by the CNIPA.  Requests can be submitted to the CNIPA's representative office in Guangzhou or Shenzhen.  If the request for prioritised examination by a Hong Kong applicant is approved, the patent examination process will be expedited.  This will result in the grant of a patent to the concerned invention that satisfies all the patentability requirements in the Mainland in a shorter period of time than in the normal course.

As set out in “The Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address” delivered in October 2022, the Government will further develop Hong Kong into a regional IP trading centre by leveraging the institutional advantages of Hong Kong's legal and IP protection systems.  One of the initiatives is to roll out this pilot project.

The IPD will provide further details of the pilot project as soon as the details of the arrangement are promulgated by the CNIPA.

For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202212/01/P2022120100252.htm.
 

Support Measures relating to Liquidity

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

The TID rolled out enhancements to the BUD Fund on 7 November 2022.

The cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise of the BUD Fund has been raised from $6 million to $7 million and the maximum number of approved projects per enterprise has been increased from 60 to 70.

The 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.