The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Finance Minister of Malaysia, Mr Lim Guan Eng, at the Chief Executive's Office this afternoon (September 13).
Welcoming Mr Lim's visit to Hong Kong, Mrs Lam said she was pleased to meet with him with both of them in different capacities since they met in Hong Kong in 2015, when she was the Chief Secretary for Administration and Mr Lim was the Chief Minister of Penang. She noted that Malaysia is an important member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is Hong Kong's second largest trading partner. She said she believes that after the Free Trade Agreement and the related Investment Agreement signed last year come into force early next year, co-operation between the two sides will be enhanced. Attaching great importance to the relationship with the ASEAN, she said she has already visited five ASEAN member states since she took office about a year ago and looks forward to visiting Malaysia in the future.
Mrs Lam said that Hong Kong and Malaysia can explore more collaboration and exchanges in various areas including education and finance. She added that, with Hong Kong's quality education and renowned universities, the Hong Kong Scholarship for "Belt and Road" Students (Malaysia) launched by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government at the end of 2016 has attracted 20 outstanding Malaysian students to pursue undergraduate studies in the city. She expressed the hope that more Malaysian students will come to Hong Kong to study and engage in research work. Noting that Hong Kong's financial sector is also striving for internationalisation, she said she welcomes enterprises from different countries or regions, including Malaysia, to list in Hong Kong to leverage Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre to develop their businesses.
Mrs Lam said the HKSAR Government organises large-scale international conferences with different themes every year, including the Asian Financial Forum and the Belt and Road Summit, inviting global political and economic leaders to participate. She said Mr Lim is most welcome to attend these conferences in Hong Kong in the future.
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