Chief Executive John Lee today met Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hourn to exchange views on strengthening connections with ASEAN member states.

While welcoming Mr Kao's visit to Hong Kong with his delegation, Mr Lee noted that Hong Kong has maintained close trade and economic ties with ASEAN, which has long been Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner.

He emphasised that since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement and the Investment Agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN, the trade and investments between the two sides have recorded significant growth with the bilateral trade in goods between Hong Kong and ASEAN amounting to US$144.6 billion last year.

Mr Lee pointed out that Hong Kong will continue to promote the co-operation between the city and ASEAN on trade and investments.

The Chief Executive thanked Mr Kao and ASEAN member states again for their continued support for Hong Kong's accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

He added that he looks forward to maintaining communication with the ASEAN secretariat on relevant issues and soliciting support from other stakeholders for Hong Kong to join the RCEP as soon as possible.

Furthermore, Mr Lee stated that he hopes to visit different ASEAN member states in the future to further strengthen Hong Kong's ties with them, taking co-operation with ASEAN to a new level.

Also attending the meeting were Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong and Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau.