The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, concluded her three day visit to Singapore today (July 23), after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT). Mrs Lau also networked with the local business community and had meetings with Singaporean officials in charge of tourism and creative industry development.
At the APEC MRT meeting on Tuesday and yesterday (July 21 and 22), Mrs Lau and trade ministers of other APEC economies reaffirmed their commitment to the multilateral trading system and discussed steps to accelerate the Doha Round negotiations. They also discussed measures to address the global economic crisis and restore economic growth, accelerate regional economic integration and strengthen APEC.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Mrs Lau also held discussion sessions with trade ministers of a number of economies to exchange views on matters of mutual concern.
At a luncheon jointly organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore and the Hong Kong-Singapore Business Association today, Mrs Lau told the Singaporean business community of the immense possibilities Hong Kong offered to create great value for their business amid the global economic downturn.
She called on Singaporean investors to capitalise on the benefits of the Mainland-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and use Hong Kong as a two-way springboard for doing business with the Mainland, adding that there was plenty of room for co-operation between the two places in innovation and technology and creative industries.
At a briefing by the Singapore Tourism Board on Singapore's latest tourism developments, Mrs Lau was updated on Singapore's cruise terminal project and various new attractions. She believed that the developments would be conducive to enhancing the attractiveness of Asia to visitors and bring about a win-win situation to the tourism development in both Hong Kong and Singapore.
Mrs Lau also met Singapore's Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Rear Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew yesterday. Noting that both Singapore and Hong Kong shared a similar vision in developing creative industries, Mrs Lau said the meeting provided a good opportunity for both places to exchange ideas on fostering the development of the sector.
Ends/Thursday, July 23, 2009 Issued at HKT 15:43