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John Lee Celebrates Hong Kong Ambassadors Club's First Anniversary and Global Partnerships.

HK

John Lee Celebrates Hong Kong Ambassadors Club's First Anniversary and Global Partnerships.
HK

HK

John Lee Celebrates Hong Kong Ambassadors Club's First Anniversary and Global Partnerships.

2024-09-10 15:40 Last Updated At:16:28

Speech by CE at 1st Anniversary Ceremony of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club (with photo/video)

Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 1st Anniversary Ceremony of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club today (September 10):

Mr Jeffrey Lam (Founder and Director of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club), Mr Patrick Tsang (Founder and Chairman of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club), Consuls-General, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to join you today, in celebration of the Hong Kong Ambassadors Club and its cheering first anniversary.

The Club has a clear mission - "Hong Kong 3.0 - Prosperity Connected Globally", a mission that is visionary and, indeed, shared by the Hong Kong SAR Government's policy priorities.

The Club brings together companies, entrepreneurs and investors to tell Hong Kong's good stories, and to seek partnerships in strategic markets near and far.

In just its first year, the Club has been up and running - and running around the world, in fact. The Club has organised seven business delegations to the Middle East - to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

And I note, with delight, that the Club also plans to embrace the promise of ASEAN and the Southeast Asia in general. Your focus in these burgeoning markets is key to our work in boosting friendly ties with the regions.

The Middle East, of course, is an important partner for our country, and a key link in the Belt and Road Initiative. In May, at the opening ceremony of the Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, President Xi Jinping emphasised China's keen interest in working with its Middle East partners through five co-operation frameworks: innovation, investment and finance, energy, economic and trade ties, and people-to-people exchanges.

Meanwhile, the Mainland and ASEAN have been each other's largest trading partners for four consecutive years, to the end of 2023.

The Hong Kong SAR Government, as you know, has also put a central priority on wide-ranging co-operation with the Middle East and ASEAN.

Our efforts have proved rewarding, for all concerned. Last year, bilateral trade in goods between Hong Kong and the Middle East totalled US$26.6 billion. Over the past five years, our trade has grown 9.5 per cent per year, on average.

As for ASEAN, its 10 countries, collectively, have been our second-largest trading partner since 2010. Last year, total trade between us reached US$145 billion, accounting for nearly 13 per cent of our global trade.

Those good numbers between Hong Kong and the Middle East, and Hong Kong and ASEAN, underline Hong Kong's critical role as a bridge between the Mainland and developing markets around the world.

To boost that vital role, and our soaring prospects, I led high-level business delegations to the Middle East, in February last year, and to ASEAN in July last year and again this past July.

Over 100 MOUs and related agreements were signed during those trips. They will enable further co-operation in such sectors as trade, investment, customs, education, logistics, tourism, technology, aviation and finance.

We are, as well, in negotiations with Saudi Arabia on an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. We have signed such Agreements with three of the six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The well-received agreements have created confidence among our respective businesses and investors.

Following the opening of an Economic and Trade Office in Dubai, nearly three years ago now, we are planning to set up an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital. It will help us better serve the region, as well as Hong Kong businesses looking to explore the Middle East market.

As for ASEAN, our Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and related Investment Agreement entered into full force in 2021, to wide-ranging mutual benefit.

The FTA's Economic and Technical Cooperation Work Programme, let me add, has allowed us to share best practices for regional growth, promoting people-to-people connections between Hong Kong and ASEAN.

And I'm pleased to say that we plan to open a fourth Economic and Trade Office in the ASEAN region, in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Our country and the 10 member states of ASEAN are all founding members of RCEP - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free trade agreement.

All 15 RCEP members are major trading partners for Hong Kong. Together, they accounted for some 70 per cent of our merchandise trade last year, and 48 per cent of our services trade in 2022. So the answer is yes, ladies and gentlemen: Hong Kong is ready, fully prepared and eager to join RCEP.

Our accession promises wide-ranging benefits, for ASEAN, for all RCEP members and, I'm confident, for Hong Kong. I count on the Hong Kong Ambassadors Club's continuous support of our RCEP accession, and in telling your overseas counterparts about our commitment to multilateralism and regional trade development.

I'm pleased to add that the ninth Belt and Road Summit opens tomorrow morning, under the theme "Building a Connected, Innovative and Green Belt and Road".

The two-day event will bring together some 6 000 senior government officials, business leaders and professionals from Belt and Road countries around the world. That includes those from the Middle East and ASEAN. I invite you all to join us there. To help build a mutually inclusive and rewarding future for all of us.

My congratulations, once again, to the Hong Kong Ambassadors Club on your first anniversary. I am grateful for your commitment to creating wide-ranging communication and collaboration between Hong Kong and other economies around the world.

I wish the Club and its members the best of business in the year to come.

Thank you.

Speech by CE at 1st Anniversary Ceremony of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club (with photo/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by CE at 1st Anniversary Ceremony of Hong Kong Ambassadors Club (with photo/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Labour Department highly concerned about fatal work accident that happened in Jardine's Lookout today

​The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about a fatal work accident that happened at a detached house in Jardine's Lookout this morning (January 20), in which a man fell from a wooden folding ladder while installing an air-conditioner. He was certified dead later in hospital. The LD is saddened by his death and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family.

The LD's spokesman said, "We commenced an immediate on-site investigation as soon as we were notified of the accident and have issued suspension notices to the contractors concerned, suspending the air-conditioning works at the detached house concerned. The contractors cannot resume the work process until the LD is satisfied that suitable measures to abate the relevant risks have been taken."

The spokesman added, "We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation."

To protect workers' safety, the LD reminds contractors that ladders are usually used for ascending and descending only. Using ladders for work-above-ground is unsafe. Contractors shall provide and ensure that workers use appropriate working platforms or other safe means of support, including step platforms or hop-up platforms in conformity with international or national standards, instead of ladders.

The general duty provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance require employers to provide safe working environments, plant and systems of work for their employees. Those who contravene the relevant provisions are liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for two years.

In regard to today's accident, the LD will issue a Work Safety Alert through its mobile application "OSH 2.0", website and email, giving a brief account of the accident concerned to duty holders, workers' unions, professional bodies of safety practitioners and others, and reminding the industry of the importance of following safety precautionary measures to prevent a recurrence of similar accidents.

The LD will also remind the employer concerned of the liability for employees' compensation under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, assist family members of the deceased to claim employees' compensation and closely follow up on the case. For those with financial difficulties, the LD will assist them to apply for appropriate emergency funds. Subject to the needs and wishes of family members of the deceased, the LD will also liaise with the Social Welfare Department for financial or other assistance.

For the sake of securing the safety and health of employees at work, the LD appeals to employers to provide plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health. Employees should co-operate with their employers, adopt all safety measures and use personal protective equipment provided properly to avoid endangering their own work safety and that of other workers.

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