ENG-2014 — Page 17

Calendar of Events 2014

January

1

7

13

14

15

17

28

29

February

1

A bilateral Working Holiday Scheme between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the United Kingdom comes into effect, allowing young people from one place to stay for up to two years in the other and to take up employment to finance their stay, pursue self-financed study or participate in volunteer services.

The Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mr CY Leung, expresses his sadness at the death of Sir Run Run Shaw, founder of Shaw Brothers Studios and Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), at the age of 107.

At the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, says the salient features of the integrity of Hong Kong's legal system are a truly independent judiciary, judges who look no further than the proper application of the law both in letter and in spirit, and the importance of ensuring transparency in all that the courts do in order to demonstrate the integrity of the law.

Hong Kong is ranked the world's freest economy for the 20th consecutive year by the Heritage Foundation.

In his second Policy Address, the Chief Executive says the government is committed to promoting economic development, improving people's livelihood and taking forward constitutional development for more effective governance.

The government releases its Assessment Report on Hong Kong's Capacity to Receive Tourists, which concludes that Hong Kong will generally be able to receive the projected 70 million visitor arrivals in 2017, though hotel rooms will continue to be in tight supply.

Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market is closed for 21 days and 22,000 poultry destroyed after a batch of live chickens from Foshan, Guangdong, is confirmed with H7N9 avian influenza virus. During the closure period, trading of Mainland and local live poultry is suspended.

The Chief Executive announces that, from 5 February 2014, the government will suspend the 14-day visa free arrangement for holders of diplomatic or official passports of the Republic of the Philippines, as its government had failed to formally apologise to the Manila hostage incident victims and their relatives.

The Air Pollution Control (Air Pollutant Emission) (Controlled Vehicles) Regulation comes into effect, limiting newly registered diesel commercial vehicles to a service life of 15 years.

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