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

“We believe that business is a win-win situation for the people of both places. I am focusing all the energy and attention of the government and the society on strengthening economic development and businesses,” he said.

Saleumxay told the city leader that the framework of building a Lao-China community and a shared future under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative has laid a solid foundation for strengthening cooperation between Laos and Hong Kong.

The Foreign Minister stressed the significance of Lee’s visit during a lunch for the delegation.

“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.

An agreement was also reached between Hong Kong’s Goldford Group and a Lao digital technology group to invest in a payment platform, as well as a cooperation agreement between the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a local secondary school.

Lee also met with Prime Minister Sonexay and said on his Facebook page that Laos had expressed support for Hong Kong joining RCEP, the world’s largest free trade agreement, which the city has been seeking to join since January 2022.

In the afternoon, Lee also visited the school, where he was welcomed 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.