Government responds to Cathay Group's plan to buy back all remaining preference shares

Cathay pacific airways to buy back $9.75 billion in preference shares from hong kong government, strengthening hong kong's position as international aviation hub

Regarding Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay Group)'s announcement today (July 5) that it plans to buy back the remaining 50 per cent of its preference shares from the Government on July 31 this year at a cost of $9.75 billion, a Government spokesman said:

In June 2020, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government invested $27.3 billion in Cathay Group through the Land Fund, comprising preference shares with detachable warrant of $19.5 billion and a bridging loan of $7.8 billion, with a view to safeguarding Hong Kong's position as an international aviation hub in the face of the unexpected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pursuant to the relevant investment agreement, in July 2020, the Government designated Fellow Certified Public Accountant Mr Carlson Tong and Senior Counsel Mr Rimsky Yuen as the observers of Cathay Group's Board of Directors, until the Cathay Group repays the Government in full the drawn bridge loan and interest and redeems all preference shares from the Government.

The HKSAR Government is pleased to note Cathay Group's decision to buy back all of its remaining preference shares and would like to express its gratitude to the two observers designated by the Government to sit on Cathay Group's Board of Directors, Mr Carlson Tong and Mr Rimsky Yuen, for their valuable contributions over the past few years.

Major air service providers based in Hong Kong are an important component of Hong Kong's status as an international aviation hub. The HKSAR Government's investment in the airline played an important role at a critical time, and the airline's operational and financial situation have improved with the full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and other places. We expect the airline to fully restore its capacity to the pre-pandemic level at full speed, actively expand its passenger and cargo flight network, and continuously enhance its service quality, so as to further support the reinforcement and enhancement of Hong Kong's status as an international aviation hub.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded significant growth in air traffic last year with the full resumption of travel, and demand for flights to and from Hong Kong from all over the world continued to rise. Between April 2023 and March this year, passenger traffic at HKIA rose by more than 260 per centto 45.2 million, while the number of flight movements rose by more than 90 per centto 310 000. In the first five months of this year, over 18 million visitors travelled to Hong Kong. Both passenger traffic and flight movements during the peak travel season have returned to 80 per centof the pre-pandemic levels, and are expected to fully recover by the end of this year. On the cargo side, benefiting from the strong demand for e-commerce, the airport handled 4.5 million tonnes of cargo last year, and HKIA has been the world's busiest cargo airport for 13 out of the past 14 years.

Looking ahead, the HKSAR Government will continue to enhance our strengths as an international aviation hub and strengthen communication with local airlines, with a view to planning our route network in such a way that it fully meets the needs of Hong Kong's overall economic and social development. In particular, Cathay Group has increased the number of flights between Hong Kong and Xi'an and Qingdao since the end of March this year, in response to the country's further opening up of the Individual Visit Scheme to cover the two cities. Direct passenger flights to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, will also be launched in October this year, to further strengthen Hong Kong's ties with Belt and Road countries.

To better complement our country's development of the "Air Silk Road" and leverage the opportunities brought about by the Three-Runway System, the HKSAR Government will continue to strengthen aviation services on existing major routes and routes along the Belt and Road with potential, including destinations in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. The Airport Authority of Hong Kong will also continue to support and encourage airlines to launch and increase flights to and from Hong Kong, as well as work with relevant parties to step up publicity efforts so as to boost the demand for travel to Hong Kong for leisure and business purposes.

Source: AI-generated images

Government launches public consultation on copyright ordinance to enhance protection for ai technology development in hong kong, seeks public input until september 8

The Government launched today (July 8) a two-month public consultation on the enhancement of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) (CO) regarding the protection for artificial intelligence (AI) technology development.

A spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) said, "The copyright regime is an important part of the intellectual property (IP) regime. On one hand, it protects the economic rights of creators in receiving remuneration from their fruits of creativity, and on the other hand, it properly balances the legitimate interests of copyright owners and the public interest."

Continuously enhancing the local copyright regime is one of the key policies to develop Hong Kong into a regional IP trading centre as set out in the National 14th Five-Year Plan. Following the implementation of the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 in May last year to strengthen copyright protection in the digital environment, the consultation explores further enhancement of the CO regarding the protection for AI technology development as announced in the Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address.

The spokesman added, "The rapid advancement of AI technology, particularly generative AI, has induced revolutionary impacts on diverse domains and industries, as well as a number of copyright issues, arousing worldwide concerns. Major economies around the world have conducted studies and consultations on the relevant issues in recent years. Under the existing CO, works generated by generative AI (AI-generated works) are already protected by copyright. To further enhance Hong Kong's copyright regime to ensure that it encourages creation and investment in creativity while supporting innovation, we have reviewed the relevant legislation in Hong Kong and other jurisdictions as well as the prevailing market situations. The consultation document looks into the following issues relating to generative AI and copyright comprehensively, and sets out our views for public consultation:

(a) Copyright protection of AI-generated works;

(b) Copyright infringement liability for AI-generated works;

(c) Possible introduction of specific copyright exception; and

(d) Other issues relating to generative AI."

The consultation document has been uploaded onto the websites of the CEDB (www.cedb.gov.hk) and the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) (www.ipd.gov.hk). Members of the public may submit their views and relevant information by email (AI_consultation@cedb.gov.hk), fax (2147 3065) or post (Division 3, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, 23/F, West Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong) on or before September 8.

The Government will also hold a public forum on August 2 (Friday) to further collect and listen to the views of the public. Interested parties are welcome to attend. Details of the forum are as follow:

Time: 7.30pm - 8.30pm

Venue: 1/F, Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Science Museum, 2 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon

Language: Cantonese (with simultaneous English interpretation)

Those interested in attending the forum can register through the IPD's website (www.ipd.gov.hk/en/publicforum2024/index.html) on or before July 26. For enquiries, please email businesscentre@ipd.gov.hk.

Source: AI-generated images