In Brief
Park-and-ride scheme urged for visitors from mainland, Macau
Lawmakers yesterday urged the government to introduce a mandatory park-and-ride scheme for Macau and mainland drivers when limits on using the Western Corridor to go to and from Hong Kong are removed at the end of this year. Members of the Legislative Council's transport panel were worried about the impact on the Hong Kong road network of an increase in vehicles entering the city. The government will introduce temporary one-off passes allowing drivers to take the underused Western Corridor, which links Ngau Hom Shek in the northwestern New Territories with Dongjiakou in Shekou , once environmental, safety and security issues have been settled with its counterparts.
Businesses expect slowdown
Three in five firms expect the business situation in the first three months of this year to be worse than in the previous three months, a Census and Statistics Department survey shows. Hotels and restaurants, wholesalers, and those in construction and the import and export trade had the gloomiest outlook. Eighty-five per cent in the real estate sector expect to do better, or no worse, than in the last quarter.
Company registrations fall
New registrations of local companies fell by 2.1 per cent last year to 98,645. The number of active local companies at year-end was 710,766 - a rise of 55,728 from 12 months earlier. The number of non-Hong Kong companies setting up businesses in the city rose 16.6 per cent year on year to 872 last year. The total number of such companies at December 31 was 8,487 - up 406 from a year earlier.
HK$90m subsidy for graduates
The Innovation and Technology Commission has HK$90 million this year to subsidise internships for 600 university graduates - and for the first time, those doing research and development work for private companies will be eligible for help. Interns receive between HK$10,000 and HK$12,000 a month. The measure is intended to help create employment opportunities for this summer's graduates.
Assistance claims increase
The number of families claiming Comprehensive Social Security Assistance rose 0.1 per cent month on month to 284,569 in December. The percentage of applicants without a job rose by 1 per cent.
Anti-spam ordinance invoked
An enforcement notice against a commercial fax-sender has been issued by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority - the first since the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance took effect 13 months ago.
