CE John Lee met ASEAN Secretary-General in HK

Chief Executive John Lee met with the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hourn at Government House to exchange views on deepening co-operation between Hong Kong and ASEAN member states. Also attending the meeting was the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau.

Lee welcomed Kao's visit to Hong Kong. Lee said that Hong Kong has maintained close trade and economic ties with ASEAN, and ASEAN has been Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner since 2010. The government is pressing ahead at full steam with the formulation of Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan.

Hong Kong will continue to deepen exchanges and co-operation with ASEAN member states in areas such as trade, investment, finance, logistics and innovation and technology.

Through the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global, the government is said to support mainland enterprises in expanding into markets including ASEAN, to promote the two-way flow of trade and investment in the region. He added that the government set up an Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year, which is the fourth ETO established by the HK government in ASEAN member states.