The State Council has, on the nomination and recommendation of Chief Executive Donald Tsang, approved the appointment of Deputy Director of Immigration Chan Kwok-ki as Director from March 28.

          He will succeed Simon Peh who is retiring after 33 years' government service.

     Mr Tsang said Mr Chan has served in the Immigration Department for 28 years and has extensive knowledge and experience in its operations and management.

     Mr Chan has made great efforts in enhancing the efficiency and professionalism of the department. I am confident he will lead the Immigration Department in meeting the challenges ahead

     Speaking on the retirement of Mr Peh, Mr Tsang said:“Since taking up the appointment as Director of Immigration in April 2008, Mr Peh has put in commendable efforts in ensuring effective immigration control and enforcement of immigration laws, leading the Immigration Department to become one of the most efficient and effective immigration servicesin the world. We sincerely wish Mr Peh a happy retirement.”

     Mr Chan, 52, joined the department as an Assistant Immigration Officer in October 1982. He was appointed Assistant Director in April 2007 and Deputy Director in September 2009.

     Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) effective January 1, 2011to mark the establishment of a new bilateral working holiday scheme to benefit the young people of the two places from January 1, 2011.

          The MoU was signed by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, and the Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong, Mr Jun Ok-hyun.

          The working holiday scheme provides an opportunity for young people to broaden their horizons and gain first-hand living and working experience in a foreign place.

          Speaking at the Signing Ceremony, Mr Cheung said that Korea had been a growing tourist destination for Hong Kong people, thanks to its beautiful landscape, rich cultural heritage, pop culture and economic dynamism. Over 165,000 Hong Kong visitors travelled to Korea in the first nine monthsthis year.

          He said, "Through exchanges in person, I believe that our youngsters will better understand not only Korea, but also themselves and their own strengths and weaknesses through the experiences they gain throughout their adventures.

          By the same token, Hong Kong can offer to young Koreans an attractive and vibrant cosmopolitan environment where the West meets the East, a can-do spirit and increasingly close economic integration with Mainland China. It is encouraging to note that some 660,000 Korean visitors came our way in the first three quarters this year.

          The scheme with Korea is the seventh bilateral working holiday scheme that Hong Kong has drawn up with other places. There are 200 places available per year from each side under the scheme. Participants will be allowed to stay up to 12 months for holiday and take up employment to finance their stay.

          Hong Kong has also established bilateral working holiday schemes with New Zealand and Australia in 2001, Ireland in 2005, and Germany, Japan and Canada in 2009. Over 14,000 Hong Kong youngsters have benefited from the scheme whilst about 1,500 young people from these countries have experienced Hong Kong's cosmopolitan and vibrant way of life.

          Under the Hong Kong/Korea Scheme, the Hong Kong Immigration Department or the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong will issue a working holiday visa to a successful applicant from Korea or Hong Kong respectively who meets the following eligibility criteria among others:

     * the applicant must be either a Korean national possessing a valid passport of Korea, or a HKSAR or British National (Overseas) passport holder ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, who is aged between 18 and 30 and intends primarily to holiday in Korea or Hong Kong for a specified period of not more than one year;

     * the applicant must not be accompanied by dependent family members;

     * the applicant must possess a return travel ticket or sufficient funds with which to purchase such ticket, and sufficient funds for their maintenance during the initial period of stay in Korea or Hong Kong; and

     * the applicant must hold comprehensive liability and medical insurance for the entire period of stay.

     Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Wong Ting-kwong in the Legislative Council today (October 27):

     Question:

          The SAR Government has indicated that to enable Hong Kong to complement enhanced cross-strait relations, it is strengthening exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

     (a) given that since January last year, the Hong Kong SAR Government has implemented two new measures for the convenience of Taiwanese residents, which are the removal of the restriction that they may submit iPermit applications only twice within a 30-day period and extension of the limit of their stay in Hong Kong to 30 days, of the number of visits by Taiwanese residents visiting Hong Kong in the whole of last year, and how such figure compares with that in the year before the implementation of these measures;

     (b) given that since September this year, Taiwan allows Hong Kong and Macao residents who were born in Hong Kong or Macao, are holders of a valid SAR passport and have visited Taiwan before, to submit an on-line application for entry permit and print their own permit for travelling to Taiwan with the fee waived, whether it knows the number to date of visits to Taiwan by Hong Kong people by means of this method and how the number of visits to Taiwan by Hong Kong residents since September this year compares with that for the same period in the previous year;

     (c) whether the authorities have further explored relevant facilitating measures in respect of immigration arrangements for residents in both places; if so, of the specific contents; if not, the reasons for that; and

     (d) whether the authorities will conduct a research on the possible impact on the local tourism industry of the measures for facilitating immigration clearance implemented by the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan for residents of the three places; if they will, of the specific contents; if not, the reasons for that?

     The Government has announced that subsequent to a review, the following amendments will be introduced to the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) with effect from October 14, 2010.

     i) The threshold of investment (and net assets/net equity requirement) for admission to Hong Kong under the CIES is raised from HK$6.5 million to HK$10 million; and

     ii) Real estate is suspended temporarily as a class of Permissible Investment Assets (PIA) under the CIES.

          Furthermore, with effect from the commencement date, an insurer authorised to carry on Class C business as specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule to the Insurance Companies Ordinance is permitted to act as a financial intermediary for the purpose of the CIES.

          A government spokesman said: "The amendments aim to ensure that the scheme is up-to-date and continues to serve the best overall interest of Hong Kong. During the review, the Government has taken into account overseas practices, changes in relevant economic indicators, and views of the public and Legislative Council members.

          Following the amendments, the scheme remains competitive compared with similar overseas schemes. The investment threshold (and net assets/net equity requirement) will be reviewed once every three years. The arrangement of the temporary suspension of real estate as a class of PIA will alsobe assessed at the next regular review, or earlier as necessary.

          The amendments to investment threshold (and net assets/net equity requirement) and suspension of real estate as a class of PIA will not affect applications received before the commencement date, whether already approved or still under processing.

          Under the existing scheme rules of the CIES, applicants are allowed to take into account the required investment made within six months prior to the date of lodging an application or within six months after being granted the approval-in-principle. According to past statistics, around 11% of the CIES entrants actually made the required investment before submitting an application.   

           In view of the above, as a transitional arrangement, new applications involving investment (including real estate) of no less than HK$6.5 million made within six months immediately preceding the commencement date are eligible for approval, subject to the applicant meeting the other criteria. For these cases, the scheme rules prevailing before the commencement date apply. However, any investment in real estate completed on or after the commencement date, irrespective of the amount, will not be accepted as PIA for new applications under the CIES.

          An estimated 5.89 million passengers will pass through land, sea and air control points during the upcoming National Day holiday period. This is an increase of about 15% over the corresponding holiday period last year.

          Between September 30 and October 7, about 2.25 million passengers - an average of about 282,000 daily - will pass through Lo Wu control point. For inbound traffic, the busiest day at Lo Wu control point is expected to fall on October 3 when about 178,000 passengers will arrive. Outbound traffic will be heavy on October 1, with about 174,000 people leaving Hong Kong.

          During the same period, passenger traffic at Lok Ma Chau control point will also be heavy with a forecast of about 793,000 passengers - a daily average of about 99,000. The busiest day at Lok Ma Chau control point will be October 2 when both arrival and departure traffic will be very heavy.

          To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic, the Immigration Department has minimised leave for staff working at control points and has arranged for extra officers to be posted at different checkpoints during the holiday period. Additional security guards will be deployed at some busy control points to provide crowd management support.

          For closer co-operation and co-ordination during these periods, the Immigration Department, Police, Customs and Excise Department and the MTR Corporation will set up a joint command centre at Lo Wu control point. All parties concerned will oversee traffic conditions and have drawn up contingency measures to handle any untoward incidents.

          It is expected that the passenger traffic on October 1 and October 3 will be very heavy. To avoid congestion during the peak periods at various boundary control points in the morning and evening, cross-boundary passengers are advised to travel to and from the Mainland during the less busytime slots.  Information on the public transport services to and from various control points is available on the Transport Department website ( www.td.gov.hk ).