CE attends Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan
28.3.2019

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (March 28) attended the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019 in Hainan and met with central ministry, province and city leaders. Mrs Lam, together with the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, in the morning attended the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, which has "Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development" as its theme. Mrs Lam listened to the keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony by the Premier of the State Council, Mr Li Keqiang. The Premier said that the country would broaden market access for investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; open sectors such as finance, professional services and high-end manufacturing wider; and continue to roll out policy initiatives to facilitate the movement of Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland people as well as the flow of factors of production. Mrs Lam said these measures will be welcomed by Hong Kong enterprises and various professional sectors and show once again the Central Government's support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). She also said she believed that these measures will further enhance Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of the country. After the opening ceremony, Mrs Lam met with the Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, Mr Xiao Yaqing. Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the SASAC for its staunch support for Hong Kong to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, which includes the co-organisation with HKSAR Government of various activities regularly to foster establishment of partnership between different trades, the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) and the professional services sector of Hong Kong; its encouragement of participation by SoEs in the capacity building initiatives of the HKSAR Government for countries along the Belt and Road; and its proactive participation in the annual Belt and Road Summit organised by the HKSAR Government. She expressed the hope to maintain close co-operation with the SASAC to make contributions in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative. In the afternoon, Mrs Lam met with the Governor of Hebei Province, Mr Xu Qin. Mrs Lam said she visited Hebei last October and was deeply impressed by the Xiongan New Area, which is designed to be developed as an international city with high-tech industries. She said she hopes that Hong Kong may participate in the Xiongan New Area’s development and contribute to it. She welcomed the news that Mr Xu will lead a delegation to visit Hong Kong next month, and said she believes the visit would help explore more areas for co-operation between the two places. Mrs Lam also met with the Deputy Party Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, Mr Ren Xuefeng. Mrs Lam said ties between Hong Kong and Chongqing have always been close and that the Chongqing Liaison Unit of the HKSAR Government was established in 2012. Hong Kong is also the largest source of external investment in Chongqing as well as the best platform for Chongqing’s enterprises to “go global”. Pointing out that Chongqing is a vital strategic place in the Western Development Programme and a main connecting point of the Belt and Road and the Yangtze River economic zone, she said Hong Kong, an international maritime centre and a regional logistics hub, is able to provide professional support services to link up the maritime and logistics networks of the two places to seize together the opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative. She said she hopes to visit Chongqing in the future to know more about the latest developments there. After the meeting, Mrs Lam joined the Women Roundtable themed “The Power of Women and the Value of Balance” to discuss with outstanding women leaders from around the world women's potential and the promotion of women’s development. Mrs Lam said to the participants that she, as the first female Chief Executive of the HKSAR, has a huge and important responsibility in advancing women's development. She briefed the participants on the Government’s measures to foster women's development, including efforts to unleash the female labour force, allowing them to give full play to their potential. In the evening, Mrs Lam joined “The Night of Hainan”, a thematic dinner hosted by the Boao Forum for Asia. After arriving in Boao yesterday afternoon, Mrs Lam also attended a dinner hosted by the Premier for major guests of the Forum, and met with the Hong Kong student volunteers at the annual conference. Mrs Lam will continue to attend events of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019 tomorrow (March 29). Ends/Thursday, March 28, 2019 Issued at HKT 20:59 NNNN