John Lee means business with second ASEAN trip

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is expected to meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday as he will lead a delegation to the Lion City, Indonesia and Malaysia for a seven-day visit.

It is the second southeast Asian work trip for Lee since he became the SAR's leader last July.

In November Lee also had a bilateral meeting with the Singapore leader during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Thailand.

Five principal officials, including the Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun, financial services and the treasury chief Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Commerce and economic development head Algernon Yau Ying-wah, transport and logistics czar Lam Sai-hung and innovation, technology and industry boss Sun Dong will be in Lee's delegation.

Also in it are around 30 high-level representatives from the above sectors.

Lee said the trip is to further strengthen cooperation with Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries in trade, economy and investment with a view to exploring business opportunities.

The visit also aims to tell the good stories of Hong Kong by introducing the city's latest strengths and opportunities to local political and business communities, he added.

Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are three key members of ASEAN, which is the second largest trading partner of Hong Kong and the fifth largest economy in the world.

Lee will visit Singapore from Sunday to Tuesday, depart for Jakarta after that and arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Lee will return next Saturday

Lee is expected to meet local political and business leaders to promote the city's advantages under the "one country, two systems" principle, touting strong backing from the mainland and Hong Kong's close connections to the world.

He will also encourage ASEAN enterprises to expand their businesses in Hong Kong and explore the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area market by making good use of Hong Kong's professional services and financing platform.

He will also visit local enterprises and major infrastructure projects to explore collaboration opportunities between Hong Kong and ASEAN countries in the areas of trade and economy and infrastructure.