CE starts her visit to Japan (with photos)

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, started her five-day visit programme in Japan after arriving in Tokyo this afternoon (October 29).

     Accompanied by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, Mrs Lam met with the Governor of Tokyo, Ms Yuriko Koike. Mrs Lam said that she, the first woman Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), was very pleased to meet with the first woman Governor of Tokyo. Mrs Lam pointed out that Tokyo and Hong Kong have a lot in common and both are important business hubs and financial centres, and said that exchanges between the governments of the two places have been more frequent and officials of the Government of the HKSAR attend large-scale conferences in Tokyo from time to time. Mrs Lam added that Tokyo is a popular destination for Hong Kong tourists with more than a quarter of Hong Kong tourists bound for Japan visiting Tokyo last year, and said that she hopes the Tokyo government would continue its support for the work of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo) so that exchanges and co-operation between the two places in different aspects can be strengthened.

     Mrs Lam and Mr Yau then attended a dinner hosted by the Japan-Hong Kong Parliamentarian League (JHKPL) to exchange views with more than 20 members of the JHKPL on affairs concerning Hong Kong and Japan. Noting that the JHKPL has been Hong Kong's important ally in promoting bilateral relations between the two places since its establishment in 1992, she thanked the Chairman of the JHKPL, Mr Wataru Takeshita, and its past chairmen and all the members for their support for Hong Kong over the years and expressed the hope that they will continue to follow Hong Kong's development.
      
     Mrs Lam will continue her visit tomorrow (October 30).