The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Mr Yoshimasa Hayashi, at the Chief Executive's Office this afternoon (August 16).
Welcoming Mr Hayashi's visit to Hong Kong again, Mrs Lam said that she was pleased to meet with him with both of them in different capacities today since they met in Hong Kong three years ago when Mr Hayashi was the then Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Noting that Hong Kong and Japan have been enjoying a close relationship, she said that Hong Kong has been Japan's largest export market for food and agricultural products in the past 10 years and the number of Hong Kong visitors to Japan hit a record high last year, with about 450 flights between the two places every week connecting Hong Kong and 15 destinations in Japan.
Mrs Lam noted that the policy areas under Mr Hayashi, including education, culture, sports, science and technology, are areas which Hong Kong is committed to developing and actively exploring with other places for more collaboration. She said that she will visit Japan later this year and expressed the hope that the trip will foster further collaboration between Hong Kong and Japan, especially in gerontechnology, in which Japan has rich experience. She also welcomed more students from Japan to study in Hong Kong and encouraged Japanese scientific and research institutions to establish a presence in Hong Kong to seize together the opportunities brought about by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an international innovation and technology hub.
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