Hong Kong – Speech by SCED at Competition Enforcers and Academics Summit (English only)
Speech by SCED at Competition Enforcers and Academics Summit (English only)
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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, at the Competition Enforcers and Academics Summit, today (August 10):
Samuel (Chairman of the Competition Commission, Mr Samuel Chan), Professor Cai (Dean of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Business School, Professor Cai Hongbin), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to be here with you today at the Competition Enforcers and Academics Summit, the largest international competition event co-organised by the Competition Commission and the HKU Business School in Hong Kong. This Summit is a significant milestone as it is the Competition Commission’s very first physical international event since Hong Kong fully bounced back from COVID-19 earlier this year. On behalf of the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government, I would like to welcome all of you here, especially our distinguished academics and our fellow colleagues of competition agencies from the Mainland and the Asia Pacific region.
Under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. Having direct access to the huge Mainland markets and strong international connectivity at the same time, Hong Kong serves as a bridge linking the Mainland and the rest of the world. I am happy to see that the Competition Commission is leveraging Hong Kong’s distinctive advantages in bringing together experts and scholars from both the Mainland and overseas to harness their objectivity, wisdom and creativity, fostering exchanges for betterment in the area of competition.
In Hong Kong, fair competition plays a pivotal role in consolidating our status as an international commerce and financial centre in Asia. The Competition Commission, our competition law enforcement agency, is a central pillar in maintaining Hong Kong’s long-standing tradition of free and open markets, ensuring that the markets function effectively with fair competition and free from anti-competitive practices. This helps create an environment in which both local and international businesses can thrive and, more importantly, a level playing field for all businesses regardless of sector or size, thereby attracting new enterprises and investments into our vibrant city.
The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in different areas. It has led to dramatic changes to the way businesses operate and perhaps more importantly, what the general public expects from service or goods providers. For example, the pandemic has led to a surge in e-commerce and accelerated digital transformation. From online shopping to food delivery, we can now buy what we want more easily with just a single click on our mobile phones. With these ongoing digitisation of various economic activities, competition enforcement work must also adapt, which is why attention of competition enforcement agencies worldwide is naturally turned to conduct that affects digital markets. I am pleased to learn that fellow academics and enforcers will discuss this issue later today, especially with regard to the challenges faced by competition authorities in regulating digital markets, and whether there is a need to apply a standard set of competition law tools to tackle difficulties arising from the fast-growing digital economy.
Apart from digital markets, I am also glad to know that the Summit today will cover other interesting and meaningful topics such as resale price maintenance as well as the interplay between competition law and ESG (environmental, social and governance). I am confident that the Summit is a platform to facilitate our exchanges of ideas and will provide us with a wealth of insightful ideas for enhancing our competition enforcement work.
My heartfelt thanks to the Competition Commission and the HKU Business School for organising the Competition Enforcers and Academics Summit today. My team and I at the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau will continue to render our full support to the Competition Commission in further fostering international partnerships and collaborating with competition agencies in the Mainland and overseas, in promoting our common value of fair competition.
I wish you all a fruitful day ahead, and the best of health in the coming year. Thank you.
Design competition for open space at Choi Hung Road Playground concludes (with photos)
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Distance Run Competition of Corporate Games 2023 opens for enrolment
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The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts has selected two Career Communications Group (CCG) products for the 2022 w3 Awards. BALTIMORE – Oct. 4, 2022 – PRLog — The w3 Awards honor creative excellence and recognizes people behind award-winning sites, marketing programs, social content, mobile site/apps and online video. Having just finished its seventeenth season, the w3 Awards received over 3,000 entries from advertising agencies, PR Firms, digital agencies, In-house creative professionals, web designers, and graphic designers. The w3 is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), an invitation only body consisting of professionals from media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms. AIVA members include executives from Comcast, Disney, Microsoft, Wired, and many others. In determining winners, entries are judged on a standard of excellence as determined by the AIVA, according to the category entered. Entries are scored on a 100-point scale by the judges. Less than 10% of all entries will be selected as Gold Winners. The w3 Awards honor outstanding Websites, Marketing, Video, Mobile, Social, and Podcasts created by some of the best digital content creators across the industry. STEM City USA came in second place in the General Websites-Community for Websites category and will receive a gold award. High-Tech Sunday, ranked in third place in the General Series-Technology for Podcast category, will receive a silver award. CCG’s award-wining metaverse, STEM City USA and High-Tech Sunday launched with little fanfare during the pandemic and the great racial reckoning in the United States. Founded and powered by Career Communications Group, STEM City USA provides content surrounding education, training, and infotainment. Content is distributed through different communities within STEM City USA. They include the STEM City Public School, STEM City Health and Technutrition, The STEMulating Lounge, The Hall of Fame, The Tribute Hall, STEM City Career Center, STEM City Seminars, STEM City Auditoriums, and High-Tech Sunday. The High-Tech Sunday Podcast looks at professional development in technology through the lens of spiritual philosophies. In a time when digital information is critical more than ever, this weekly program is produced by and for CCG’s community of alumni and professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, thought leaders, and aspiring students, to bring a concentrated discussion around technological advancements and achievements based on universal moral principles. About STEM City USA (SCU) STEM City USA (SCU) combines the physical and digital worlds by creating unique digital in the moments (DIM). These DIMs are designed with rich content that delivers an immersive experience where all lives intersect and blend into a diverse digital community. Founded and powered by Career Communications Group (CCG), STEM City USA builds on the successful best practices and proven content of the Black Engineer of the Year and Women of Color in Technology conferences, both of which operate in digital twin environments. www.stemcityusa.com About Career Communications Group, Inc. (CCG) Career Communications Group, Inc. (CCG) publications target students actively pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. CCG publications promote STEM as an integral part of global competitiveness and America’s advancement. Therefore, CCG magazines aim to reach, engage, and retain diverse readers by exposing them to job horizons, professional life, and forward-thinking role models. For more information on CCG, please visit www.ccgmag.com. Web Marketing Association is releasing a collection of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to commemorate achievement of winning recognition in the annual WebAward program. The WebAwards are the first marking award program to offer NFTs to its winners. The NFTs are available beginning September 30, 2022 at https://opensea.io/collection/webawards. “As Web3 continues to advance, the Web Marketing Association thought it would be important to recognize this evolution by offering NFTs to commemorate the achievement of winning a WebAward,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “Winning a WebAward is a great way to be recognized for all the hard work that goes into an ‘award-winning’ website. Now the winner’s achievement will also live on the blockchain.” Web Marketing Association has minted 10 NFTs for each winning entry. One of these NFTs was made available free of charge to the winners who submit a valid Ethereum NFT wallet address. The other NFTs will be available for sale on OpenSea.io and Coinbase.com for .015 ETH (about $20USD) beginning September 30. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) are digital assets traded over the internet that represents real-world objects, in this case, recognition for outstanding website development. NFTs are popular today because they offer a unique way to collect digital assets. NFTs were created for all of the 26th annual WebAward winners. In addition, the top awards offered each year: Best of Show, Top Agency and Outstanding Website Developer – since 2010, had NFTs minted for their achievement as well. Current WebAward NFTs available, include: “NFTs are an exciting part of the evolution of the Internet and allow individual contributors to have a digital reminder of the achievement of their ‘award-winning’ hard work,” said Rice. “Overtime, we hope these NFTs will appreciate in value and reward those who get in early. We expect other award programs to copy our lead and offer NFTs to their winners in the future.” WebAward winners will continue to receive a beautiful statue with the iconic W in a flame motif to recognize their achievement. They also receive a listing on their coveted website at www.WebAward.org which features a screenshot and link to their site along with a listing of those individuals who contributed to the award-winning website. This page helps in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and link building credibility from their highly-rated site. About the WebAward Competition The WebAwards are the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criterias of a successful website. Now in its 26th year, this esteemed award program recognizes the individual and team achievements of Web professionals in 86 industries all over the world who create and maintain outstanding websites. A complete list of past winners can be found at www.webaward.org. About the Web Marketing Association The Web Marketing Association is working to create a high standard of excellence for Website development and marketing on the internet. Staffed by volunteers, it is made up of internet marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of website development and marketing on the internet. Since 1997, the Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward, Internet Advertising Competition and MobileWebAward award programs have been helping interactive professionals promote themselves, their companies, and their best work to the outside world. Now in its 26th year, the WebAward Competition is the premier award event for web developers and marketers worldwide. Web Marketing Association CategoriesHong Kong – Design competition for open space at Choi Hung Road Playground concludes (with photos)
The Design Competition for Redevelopment of Open Space at Choi Hung Road Playground, co-organised by the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) and the Architectural Services Department, concluded successfully with the award presentation ceremony held today (August 5).
The competition aimed to gather creative design concepts and ideas for the redevelopment of the open space at Choi Hung Road Playground, so as to enhance the attractiveness and inclusiveness of the open space, promote diversified development, and inject new vitality into San Po Kong.
The competition comprised the professional group and the student group, and 36 and 13 entries were received respectively. The first prize entry of the professional group, “Field and Hill”, blends elements of Chinese cultural heritage into a poetic landscape design, and incorporates inclusive design to meet the various needs of visitors. The first prize entry of the student group, “Ride Along the Living Wall”, injects vibrancy and energy into the open space with an outstanding theme.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Architectural Services, Mr Edward Tse, said that the Government strives to build quality recreational and leisure spaces for public enjoyment. The overall design standard of the entries is very encouraging. All winning entries have innovative design concepts and match the characteristics of the Choi Hung Road Playground. Apart from gathering high-quality design concept proposals for the Choi Hung Road Playground Open Space, this competition provided a platform for designers, especially the younger generation, to showcase their talents, participate in government projects and contribute to society.
The Deputy Head of the EKEO, Ms Lilian Cheung, said that the EKEO has been advocating improvement of public open space as well as local landscape and environment through quality urban design and place making, so as to tie in with the transformation of Kowloon East into the second core business district. The community engagement workshop held during the competition enabled participants to interact with stakeholders, including people who live or work in San Po Kong, and to create designs that reflect the unique history and culture of the district, while meeting the aspirations and needs of the community.
The list of the winners and winning entries are available on the competition webpage (chrpdc.com).Hong Kong – Distance Run Competition of Corporate Games 2023 opens for enrolment
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (April 24) that the enrolment for the Distance Run Competition of the Corporate Games 2023 will start from today until May 22. Employees of commercial and industrial organisations as well as the public sector are welcome to take part in the Games.
The Distance Run Competition will be held at main dam of Plover Cove Reservoir, Tai Po (Tai Mei Tuk), on October 8 (Sunday). The distance for the competition is about 7 kilometres. Participants must enrol in the name of an organisation or a government department and shall represent only one organisation throughout the Games. The quotas for Group A (organisations with 300 or more employees in Hong Kong), Group B (organisations with less than 300 employees in Hong Kong) and Group C (government departments) are 500, 100 and 300 respectively. Places will be allocated by balloting if enrolment quotas are exceeded.
Interested organisations can enrol via the LCSD dedicated website (corporategames.lcsd.gov.hk), or by returning the completed enrolment form to the LCSD by post (Address: Major Events Section, 2/F, Leisure and Cultural Services Headquarters, 1-3 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin) or by fax (2634 0786).
Meanwhile, the enrolment period of badminton, basketball, futsal, snooker , tennis and 11-a-side soccer competitions has ended. There are remaining quotas for some competition events of athletes, table tennis, tenpin bowling and volleyball. Interested organisations can enrol by post or fax on a first-come, first-served basis until the places are full or the final enrolment deadlines for the respective competitions are reached. For details, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/cg/2023/news.html or call 2601 7673 for enquiries.
The Corporate Games organised by the LCSD is a major multi-sport event for employees of private and public sector organisations. Eleven sports competitions, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, distance run, futsal, snooker, table tennis, tennis, tenpin bowling, volleyball and 11-a-side soccer are held between February and October at various recreation and sports venues throughout Hong Kong.Top digital competition selects STEM City Metaverse & High-Tech Sunday Podcast as W3 Award Winners
WebAward Competition First Award Program to Provide NFTs for Winners
· Best of Industry – 2022
· Outstanding Website – 2022
· Standard of Excellence – 2022
· Best of Show – 2010-2022
· Top Agency – 2010-2022
· Outstanding Website Developer – 2010-2022
William Rice
860-558-5423
https://opensea.io/collection/webawardsContact