Blog

Visit to Indonesia

A gist of the blog:

I visited Jakarta, Indonesia for two days last week to officiate at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta (Jakarta ETO), and to participate in the trade seminar focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative.

The newly established Jakarta ETO represents the HKSAR Government in matters between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a whole. The trade between Hong Kong and ASEAN has grown by 70% over the past 10 years, making ASEAN our second largest trading partner. Member countries of ASEAN have been actively supporting the development of Belt and Road corridors, and the new infrastructure projects engendered under the initiative will provide a big boost to the their economies.

We have also been investing heavily in infrastructure, with a view to making Hong Kong a more convenient and efficient city, creating more jobs, enhancing people’s living standards as well as promoting economic growth. Taking the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) as an example, it provides efficient, comfortable and environmentally friendly commuting services and can substantially shorten the distances between Hong Kong and cities in the Guangdong Province and the rest of the Mainland. The Government has proposed the co-location arrangement for the XRL following meticulous planning in light of the actual situation. I believe that the majority of Hong Kong people will agree that a co-location arrangement is critical to fully unleashing the transport, social and economic benefits of the XRL, and will help bolster our strategic position in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area and southern region of China, while maintaining our economic vitality.

July 30, 2017