Hong Kong residents intending to travel abroad during Easter holidays are reminded to apply early for travel documents. An Immigration Department spokesperson said the processing time for Hong Kong S… read more
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (March 19) that due to big w… read more
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, in Tbilisi, Georgia, yesterday (March 18, Tbilisi time) emphasised Hong Kong’s strengths as a key business matching platform for Georgian enterprises seeking and forging strategic partnerships. Speaking at a seminar and networking dinner entitled “Hong Kong IN: Exploring New Business Opportunities”, Mr Yau said that given Georgia’s prime location at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and Hong Kong’s edge on various fronts including in having a deep pool of professional talents, Hong Kong and Georgia enjoy a wealth of opportunities to further strengthen connections and achieve synergy under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Co-organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the seminar was one of the highlights of the three-day visit programme to Tbilisi by a Hong Kong and Guangdong business and professional delegation. It attracted the attendance of over 100 local business leaders and representatives of chambers of commerce.
“Hong Kong and Georgia share a vision in becoming trading and logistics hubs between East and West in Asia and the Caucasus respectively. Our partnership particularly on this front can allow us to complement each other in capitalising on our traditional strengths, realising our vision, and co-benefiting from new opportunities under the Initiative,” Mr Yau said.
“Hong Kong has a deep pool of world-class talent in maritime and logistics services, engineering, architecture, surveying, urban planning, accounting, law, consulting, etc, who are well versed in cross-border deals. With ample experience in planning, implementing and managing international projects, and resolving legal matters and business disputes, our professionals can certainly provide high-quality services, and contribute valuable business knowledge across regional and international boundaries to Georgia,” he added.
He further pointed out that Hong Kong and Georgia have enormous prospects for further bilateral trade under the Initiative. The Hong Kong-Georgia Free Trade Agreement signed last year entered into force this February. It gives Hong Kong better access not only to Georgia’s market, but also opens the door to the vast markets in the greater Eurasian region, and all the way into Eastern Europe and further. With Hong Kong’s unparalleled knowledge of the Chinese market as well as Asian consumer needs and tastes, Hong Kong can help Georgia’s exporters promote Georgian products to emerging markets in China and other Asian countries.
Prior to the seminar, Mr Yau met with the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Mr George Kobulia, to learn about Georgia’s latest government policies and economic development plans as well as the overall investment and business opportunities in the region.
In the afternoon, the delegation attended a briefing on investment opportunities in Georgia, where they were briefed on the latest infrastructure projects and co-financing opportunities in Georgia.
Mr Yau will continue his visit in Tbilisi today (March 19, Tbilisi time). He will meet with the Chinese Ambassador to Georgia and senior government officials of Georgia, and lead the delegation to visit some development projects in Tbilisi.
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, has accepted the invitations to visit Conghua in Guangzhou and Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of Exhibition Raceday at Conghua Racecourse and the 20th China Development Forum respectively.
Mrs Lam will depart for Conghua in Guangzhou in the afternoon this Friday (March 22) and attend the opening ceremony of the first Exhibition Raceday to be held by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in collaboration with the Conghua District Government at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Conghua Racecourse the next day. Opened in August last year, the Conghua Racecourse is an important collaboration between Hong Kong and Guangdong. When Guangzhou hosted the Asian Games in 2010, to facilitate overseas horses to take part in the Games in the Mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, with its experience in the organisation of horseraces and enforcement of stringent animal and plant quarantine measures over the years, implemented the first Specific Equine Disease-free Zone in the Mainland in Conghua jointly with the relevant Mainland authorities and the Guangdong Provincial Government, the standard of which was recognised internationally. The Hong Kong Jockey Club later developed the Asian Games equestrian venue into the current Conghua Racecourse, providing high-quality facilities for horse training. The racecourse is now an important support base for the sport of horse racing in Hong Kong.
Mrs Lam will depart for Beijing from Guangzhou in the evening on March 23 and attend the 20th China Development Forum on March 24 and 25. The theme of this year’s forum is “Greater Opening-up for Win-Win Cooperation”. Mrs Lam will speak at a session on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The China Development Forum has been hosted annually by the Development Research Centre of the State Council since 2000 with the aim of “Engaging with the World for Common Prosperity”. The forum serves as a pivotal platform for dialogues between leaders of the Central Government, global business community and international organisations as well as the academia at home and abroad. Mrs Lam will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon on March 25.
During her absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will be Acting Chief Executive. read more
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met with the visiting Executive Director of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, Dr Yoshimasa Goto, and his delegation at Government House this afternoon (March 18). The Ambassador and Consul-General of Japan in Hong Kong, Mr Mitsuhiro Wada, and the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, also attended the meeting.
Welcoming the delegation’s visit to Hong Kong, Mrs Lam said she was pleased to meet with Dr Goto again after her visit to Japan at the end of October last year. She said that she was impressed during the five-day visit by Japan’s development and outstanding achievements in innovation and technology (I&T) . While in Japan, she met with representatives of a number of research institutions, universities and the industry to introduce to them Hong Kong’s advantages and prospects in scientific research, and she realised that both sides were keen to further their co-operation. Indeed, a joint statement was issued by her and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mr Taro Kono, during her visit on deepening and broadening of co-operation between the two places, in which I&T was one of the areas covered. Noting that the delegation will visit the Hong Kong Science Park and the Cyberport, the two flagship I&T infrastructures in Hong Kong, as well as local universities in the coming days, she said she believes that the visits will help enhance mutual understanding.
Mrs Lam said that the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was promulgated last month and that the country attaches great importance to I&T development in the Plan. Pointing out that Hong Kong possesses sound scientific research capabilities, outstanding technology talents and world-class universities, she said that Hong Kong will strive to leverage its advantages to complement the development of the Greater Bay Area as an international I&T hub. She expressed the hope that renowned I&T enterprises and education institutions in Japan would actively consider establishing a presence in Hong Kong to jointly seize the opportunities brought by the development of the Greater Bay Area.
