Constitution and Administration | 15
The Chief Secretary for Administration led trade delegations on visits to the nine municipalities of the Pearl River Delta between April and June 2009. A forum on the implementation of the Outline, which was attended by government officials and business leaders of Hong Kong, Guangdong, and the nine municipalities, was held in July 2009. The events promoted exchanges on the implementation of the Outline, and explored possibilities of strengthening co-operation. Progress made under the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference was also reviewed in August.
In November 2009, Hong Kong and Shenzhen held a co-operation meeting in which both sides reviewed the past year's work and agreed to explore new areas of co-operation and concrete measures on the basis of the established foundation, including rolling forward the development of modern service industries in Qianhai.
The Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council is a platform for the private sector to discuss issues related to Hong Kong/Guangdong co-operation and to foster closer economic co-operation within the Greater Pearl River Delta region. The council has maintained close liaison with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Guangdong Sub Council, its counterpart in Guangdong, to exchange views on and to collaborate in matters of mutual concern. The council also keeps close ties with the Guangdong's Association for Promotion of Co-operation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, which was established in 2009.
The Government continues to promote strongly the restructuring, upgrading and relocation of factories in the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region in which Hong Kong businessmen have a stake. During the year, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices organised visits to the region for Hong Kong businessmen to enable them to learn at first hand the business opportunities in the PPRD.
Hong Kong and Shanghai co-operate on such matters as airport and seaport management, logistics, the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China, tourism and other mutually beneficial activities.
A Beijing-Hong Kong Symposium was held in October 2009 to promote further co-operation in areas such as town planning, tourism promotion, technology, financial services, health protection and product branding.
Working Relationship with Macao Special Administrative Region
To strengthen co-operation between Hong Kong and Macao, the two sides established a liaison officers' system under which representatives from the respective bureaux or departments served as liaison officers in various co-operation areas. In February 2009, the Financial Secretary and Macao's Secretary for Economy and Finance co-chaired a meeting in Hong Kong to discuss the latest progress and future direction of co-operation between the two places.