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To promote harmonious labour relations in the construction industry, the Labour Department produces a leaflet named "Points To Note for Construction Employers【建築業僱主須知】" to set out in simple terms the provisions of the Employment Ordinance on payment of wages as well as some good people management practices in respect of entering into written contract, keeping proper records and distinguishing employment status. They hope this will help remind employers to comply with the provisions of the Ordinance as well as to avoid unnecessary disputes.

The leaflet is available both in Chinese and English by clicking into the following links :

Chinese : http://www.labour.gov.hk/public/pdf/wcp/PointToNoteCE.pdf

English : http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/PointToNoteCE.pdf

Hard Copies are kept in our FEMC office for members' collection. Please contact the FEMC Secretariat for arrangement.

The Trade and Industry Department has launched that the 2005/06 SME Mentorship Programme is running now and inviting applications from SME proprietors. Participants can learn from and be guided by accomplished businessmen, senior executives and professionals. SME proprietors of locally registered companies which are established less than 5 years and employ fewer than 20 employees in Hong Kong are eligible to apply. Deadline for application is 24 June 2005.

For more details of the Programme, please visit the website at http://www.sme.gcn.gov.hk/smeop/english/mentorship_main_e.cfm.

A consultation exercise on the proposed versions for the above Code of Practice (CoP) conducted between July 2004 and September 2004 was completed. After the consultation exercise, EMSD had formed a working group to review and finalize the proposed revisions. The finalised version of the revised CoP is now attached for your reference.

The revised CoP is tentatively to be published in the gazette in August 2005.

In pursuit of providing high quality services to the community and promoting innovative design in the building industry, Architectural Services Department has carried out a comprehensive research on Universal Accessibility. Their goal is to increase awareness of accessibility issues in the design of buildings and open spaces to attain a more accessible and sustainable environment. It is very encouraging that the research paper has recently been awarded the Hong Kong Institute of Architects Annual Award 2004 – Special Architectural Award for Architectural Research.

If you would like to read the full report, please visit the ASD webpage under the category of Knowledge Sharing :
http://www.archsd.gov.hk/english/knowledge_sharing/ua/univ_access.htm

Having informed by TDC, a captioned conference is co-organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the Shanghai Association of Architects, it will be held in June 2005.

The ninth issue of Quarterly Highlights (January - March 2005) produced by the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (PCICB) has been published. It covered major developments occurring from January - March 2005.

Members can download the electronic copy of this publication from PCICB's website at http://www.pcicb.gov.hk.

The Government is committed to promoting competition to enhance economic efficiency and free trade, and to benefit consumers. The Competition Policy Advisory Group (COMPAG) chaired by the Financial Secretary was established in Dec 1997 to provide a high-level, dedicated forum to review competition-related issues with policy or systemic implications.

COMPAG reckons that promoting competition is not just a government matter. The community, in particular the business sector, also has an important role to play. With the support and contribution from chambers of commerce and trade organizations, COMPAG developed in 1002, a set of guidelines which aims to provide pointers with objective benchmarks and principles to assess Hong Kong’s overall competitive environment, to define and tackle anti-competitive practices, as well as to ensure consistent application of Hong Kong’s competition policy across sectors. You are encouraged to promote adherence to the guidelines by your organization, and to develop your won sector-specific codes of conduct on the basis of these guidelines.

The 7th FEMC Newsletter is enclosed for members to retrieve.

Please click into " READ MORE " for downloading.

It is nice to hear that the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council has given approval to inject additional funding to the SME Funding Schemes, which are :
- The SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) and SME Development Fund (SDF) will have an additional funding of $500 million;
- The total government loan guarantee commitment under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme (SGS) will be increased from $6.6 billion to $10.6 billion;
- The application procedures for the EMF will be streamlined.

The record for the lst quarter of year 2005 is attached for your information.

Section 23 deals with failure to pay wages within 7 days and section 25 to pay wages and compensation upon termination.

This record is distributed by the Labour Department to selected parties every quarter. Accordingly, we will circulate to all members upon receipt.

You may take this into consideration in your management of sub-contractors.

A self-explanatory letter from EMSD is attached for your information, which is advising us the latest information of the captioned.

For bring up the knowledge of E&M safety continuously, again, the event was jointly organized by FEMC and EMF (The Federation of Hong Kong Electrical & Mechanical Industries Trade Unions) on 12th December 2004. It was held successfully and overwhelming with 1,200 participants.

The eighth issue of Quarterly Highlights (October - December 2004) produced by the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (PCICB) has been published. It covered major developments occurring from October - December 2004.

Members can download the electronic copy of this publication from PCICB's website at http://www.pcicb.gov.hk.

We have been informed by Trade and Industry Department (TID) that the Central People's Government and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region agreed to a package of further liberalization measures (commonly known as "CEPA II") on 27th August 2004 and signed the Supplement to CEPA on 27th October 2004. The liberalization measures of CEPA II have come into full implementation since 1st January 2005.

A leaflet summarising the latest implementation details of CEPA published by TID is ready for distribution to interested parties. There are some copies keeping in our FEMC office for members' collection. If you are interested in getting copy, please contact me at 2519 3998 for arrangement. A soft copy of the leaflet is attached for your reference.

ASD has released FEMC a table showing the annual forecast of contracts that are anticipated to be invited by the Department in this year.
ASD has provided FEMC the following information by releasing relevant tables, which are

1) Forecast of Contracts 2005 - a table showing the annual forecast of contracts that are anticipated to be invited by the Department in this year.

2) Forecast of Consultancies 2005 - a table showing the annual forecast of consultancies that are anticipated to be invited by the Department in this year.

The information of "2010 Shanghai World Expo" is attached for members' information.

The 6th FEMC Newsletter is enclosed for members to retrieve.

Please click into " READ MORE " for downloading.

The record for the 4th quarter of year 2004 is attached for your information.

Section 23 deals with failure to pay wages within 7 days and section 25 to pay wages and compensation upon termination.

This record is distributed by the Labour Department to selected parties every quarter. Accordingly, we will circulate to all members upon receipt.

You may take this into consideration in your management of sub-contractors.

Construction Workers Registration (Levy) Notice was announced on the Gazette No.49/2004 dated 3 December 2004. It will come into operation on 24 February 2005. Attached herewith the Notice both in English and Chinese for your attention.

We have been informed by ETWB that the Trade and Industry Department (TID) has issued a notice announcing the updated procedures and requirements for applying for Certificate of Hong Kong Service Supplier. This notice is published at TID's website at the following address -

English : http://www.tid.gov.hk/english/aboutus/tradecircular/ntss/2004/ntss042004_index.html

Chinese : http://www.tid.gov.hk/tc_chi/aboutus/tradecircular/ntss/2004/ntss042004_index.html