Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak today commenced her visit to countries along the Belt & Road regions, namely Laos and Vietnam.

Upon arriving in Vientiane, Laos, Miss Mak visited Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Lao People's Democratic Republic Fang Hong this afternoon.

She expressed her gratitude to Ms Fang and the embassy for the support to the work of the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau. Miss Mak and Ms Fang exchanged views on matters related to promoting youth development.

Miss Mak pointed out that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to youth development and actively promotes exchanges among young people from Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas.

Diverse youth exchange and internship activities on the Mainland and overseas have been organised to enhance young people's understanding of the country, broaden their global exposure and expand their horizons.

Additionally, Miss Mak highlighted that among such initiatives, the bureau has collaborated with organisations such as the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Agency for Volunteer Service to organise the UNV-Hong Kong Universities Volunteer Internship Programme, which funds Hong Kong university students to undertake voluntary internships at different UN agencies for six months.

This year, the programme has expanded to more countries along the Belt & Road region, including Laos and Vietnam. A total of 25 Hong Kong students participated in the programme and three of them are conducting voluntary internships in Laos.

In the evening, Miss Mak had dinner with three Hong Kong youths who participated in the internship. She learnt about their working environment and daily life in different agencies under the UN.