The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, accompanied by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore, Mr Heng Swee Keat, at Government House this afternoon (May 29). Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, and the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education, Mr Chee Hong Tat, also attended the meeting.
Mrs Lam congratulated Mr Heng for his promotion as the Deputy Prime Minister and welcomed his visit to Hong Kong as part of his inaugural overseas visit. Noting that the commitments made under the Free Trade Agreement between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) among Hong Kong and five ASEAN member states including Singapore will enter into force on June 11, she expressed her gratitude to the Singapore Government for its long-standing support for the signing of related agreements between Hong Kong and ASEAN. She said she believes that, with the support of the Economic and Trade Offices in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok established by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the development of Hong Kong and ASEAN will be further strengthened and relations between the two places will be taken to a new level.
Mrs Lam said that the people-to-people exchanges and trade ties between Hong Kong and Singapore have always been close and that the two places share similar backgrounds and developments. Adding that both places are among the most competitive economies in the world, she said they have a lot to learn from each other. Pointing out that Hong Kong is committed to developing innovation and technology and has devoted substantial resources and rolled out a number of specific measures, she expressed the hope to explore more collaboration in areas such as biotech, fintech and start-ups with research centres, education institutes and enterprises in Singapore.
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