ENG-2015 — Page 18

Calendar of Events

2015

27

people from different sectors as well as future generations can share the benefits of economic growth.

Statutory provisions under the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 entitling qualified male employees to three days' paternity leave come into effect.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive, Mr Norman Chan, announces new measures to cool the property market, including lowering the maximum loan- to-value ratio for self-use residential properties valued below $7 million to 60 per

cent.

March

2

4

12

29

31

April

1

4

A Working Holiday Scheme between Hong Kong and Austria takes effect, allowing 100 young people from each side per year to stay for up to six months in the other and to take up short-term employment and study courses.

HSBC says it will issue a $150 banknote to mark the 150th anniversary of the bank's founding in Hong Kong, and that all net proceeds from the sale of the notes will go to local charity groups. The bank later sells two million of the banknotes and announces a total donation of $477 million to charities.

The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited says properties provided as security for a reverse mortgage loan no longer need to be the borrower's principal residence, and that life insurance contracts and more than one property can be used as security.

The government extends its Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities to green minibuses by phases in addition to the MTR, ferries and franchised buses, allowing eligible commuters to travel for $2 per trip any time using Octopus cards.

The Chief Executive says the government is seeking to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to seize the opportunities it will bring. He says that Hong Kong, an important international financial centre of our country, is capable of playing a key role in the bank's work.

The government announces the Chief Executive in Council's decision not to renew Asia Television Limited's free-television licence and to extend its existing licence to 1 April 2016, marking the first time a Hong Kong broadcasting licence has not been renewed. On the same day, the Chief Executive in Council decides to grant HK Television Entertainment Company Limited a 12-year free-television licence.

To reduce the use of plastic bags, from this day all retailers must charge customers at least 50 cents for every plastic shopping bag provided, with exemptions for certain food items.

Two large-scale events, a Basic Law seminar at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and an exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of History, are launched to mark the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law of the HKSAR.

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