Hong Kong businesses and other organisations have signed 12 non-binding agreements with Laos

He said Hong Kong’s airport could also boost the landlocked Southeast Asian nation’s exports. Direct flights between the Lao capital, Vientiane, and Hong Kong began in April.

“We have been ranked number one in the world for air cargo volume for over 10 years, so I outlined how Laos can make good use of the airport to support our transport and logistics sectors,” he said.

Lee began the day with a breakfast with local business leaders before meeting with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith in the capital.

Saleumxay told the director-general that the framework of building a Lao-China community and a shared future under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative – a programme aimed at expanding global trade – provided a solid foundation for strengthening cooperation between Laos and Hong Kong.

The foreign minister, speaking at a lunch for the delegation, highlighted the significance of the “historic” trip by Lee, the first Hong Kong leader to visit the country.

“This time, your visit will be very important. It will be a turning point in the broad cooperation between Laos and Hong Kong,” Saleumxay said.

“(The signed agreements) reflect the desire for Laos and Hong Kong to work together to achieve their common goals of developing trade, investment and economic activities between Laos and Hong Kong.”

The agreements include an agreement between the Hong Kong Customs Service and the Lao Customs Service, as well as three agreements between the city’s Trade Development Board, the Lao government and two local chambers of commerce.

There was also an agreement between Hong Kong’s Goldford Group and a Lao digital technology group to invest in a payment platform, and a scholarship agreement between the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a local secondary school.

Lee also met with Prime Minister Sonexay and later said Laos had expressed support for Hong Kong to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest free trade pact, which the city has been seeking to join since January 2022.

In the afternoon the Managing Director also visited the school, where he was received by the students and watched a folk music performance.

In a speech at a secondary school in Vientiane, he emphasised the attractiveness of Hong Kong as an educational centre where students can stay and develop their careers.

“I can assure you that Hong Kong is a city full of opportunities of all kinds, for your careers and for your lives. In Hong Kong, we dream big and, I might add, we make our dreams come true. You can too,” he said.

He also toured the Saysettha Development Zone, northeast of Vientiane and a terminus on the China-Laos Railway, where staff gave him a briefing on the zone’s operations and viewed a first-class carriage after the train arrived from Kunming in mainland China’s Yunnan Province.

Lee will travel to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday, then to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He will return to Hong Kong on Friday.