Hong Kong News: Hong Kong Unveils 2025 Public Holidays with Five Long Weekends
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has officially published the list of public holidays for the year 2025. In total, there will be 17 days of public holidays, with only two falling on Saturdays – the day after Good Friday and Tuen Ng Festival.
Hong Kong News: Hong Kong Government Implements Annual Review of Statutory Minimum Wage
The Hong Kong government has officially accepted the recommendations put forth by the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) regarding the review process for the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) in the city.
Under the new guidelines, the SMW rate will be reviewed on an annual basis, ensuring that adjustments are made regularly. The MWC has proposed a formula for conducting these reviews, taking into account two key indicators: inflation and the economic growth factor.
HK News: The utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in various operational areas is expected to become mainstream among Hong Kong enterprises next year.
Currently, only 30% of enterprises in Hong Kong have integrated AI tools into their operation processes, such as marketing and customer services, based on data from HKPC Digital Transformation.
HK News: Restrictions on language proficiency hinder Hong Kong companies from attracting international talent
Hong Kong has been easing immigration rules left and right to attract more foreign workers into the city.
However, one problem — as pointed out by Mathew Gollop, managing director of Connected Group — is that some firms still fail to hire talent from overseas due to limiting factors such as language requirements.
“A candidate of mine took on a new role. His role is to look at talent as part of their diversity program and his first conversation with the talent function was to say, ‘Why do so many of our job descriptions have ‘must speak Cantonese?’ The response was: ‘We don’t know, that’s just what it says on the job description,’” Gollop told Hong Kong Business.
“Of course, many jobs in the local market will require Cantonese as a language but that’s a huge limiting factor when we know that the local talent market is decreasing. If we’re looking outside of that, then we’re going to have to be more flexible on some of these language requirements,” he said.
HK News: Hong Kong population projections for 2022-2046 released
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) has announced the release of an updated set of population projections on August 15th.
These projections, compiled by the C&SD, cover the period from 2022 to 2046, with the mid-2021 population serving as the base. In addition to the baseline population projections, the C&SD has also included high and low population projections for reference. While the baseline projection scenario is based on assumptions regarding fertility, mortality, and movement that are considered the most likely to occur at the time of compilation, the two additional projection scenarios explore potential outcomes under more aggressive or conservative assumptions.
According to the data, under the baseline population projections, the Hong Kong Resident Population is expected to reach 8.19 million by mid-2046. However, the high and low population projections indicate potential figures of 8.96 million and 7.76 million, respectively.
ASEAN News: Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia have the best pension systems in Asia: Report
They are followed by China, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Thailand. However, looking at the global ranking, the top three countries with the best pension systems are: Iceland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The coronavirus crisis has proved a catalyst for digital transformation through financial technology - or fintech. As Hong Kong recovers from the Covid 19 pandemic, the city's tech sector is boosting confidence in the economy's "new normal" and helping businesses and individuals embrace new ways of doing business.