The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (August 1) led the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) delegation to continue their visit in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the morning, Mr Lee had breakfast with staff of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at a local restaurant to better understand their work and experience the unique Vietnamese food culture.
Afterwards, Mr Lee met with Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Mr Tran Luu Quang. They jointly witnessed an exchange of eight memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between government departments, enterprises and organisations of the two places in areas including economic and trade, aviation services development, and financial and capital market development.
Following the exchange of MOUs, Mr Lee led the HKSAR delegation to join a meeting session with Mr Tran Luu Quang. Mr Lee remarked that Vietnam has experienced rapid economic developments in recent years, while Hong Kong serves as an international financial, trade, shipping, logistics, and professional services centre. He encouraged more Vietnamese enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to tap into the Mainland and international markets.
In the afternoon, Mr Lee met with the President of Vietnam, Mr To Lam, to exchange views on issues of mutual interest. Mr Lee highlighted that Hong Kong and Vietnam have always maintained close bilateral trade relations, and that Vietnam is the seventh-largest trading partner of Hong Kong and the second-largest one among the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He added that Hong Kong treasures the relations with Vietnam and he looks forward to paving the way for new co-operation opportunities between the governments and business sectors of the two places through this visit. He also expressed his hope for Vietnam's continuous support for Hong Kong's early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to further contribute to regional economic developments.
Mr Lee then met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Xiong Bo. Mr Lee thanked Ambassador Xiong and the Embassy for their thoughtful arrangements for the visit, as well as their continuous support for the HKSAR Government's liaison and promotional work in Vietnam. The HKSAR Government will continue to promote economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two places, he added.
Mr Lee will depart for Ho Chi Minh City this evening and will continue his visit tomorrow (August 2).
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