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Addressing a luncheon in Seoul attended by businessmen, lawyers, arbitrators and academics, Mr Wong spoke about Hong Kong's edge as an international arbitration centre. In Tokyo, Mr Wong met government officials and members of the legal community to promote Hong Kong as the region's premier legal services and dispute resolution centre.
In his meetings with his Korean and Japanese counterparts, Mr Lee recommended closer mutual ties among the law enforcement agencies.
Southeast Asia
Visits by senior HKSAR Government officials to the region during the year further advanced bilateral relationships between Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries.
The then Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, visited Singapore in February and met Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong; and the then Senior Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong. Mr Tang also shared and exchanged views with other ministers on issues of mutual interest, such as policies on burial arrangements and
waste treatment.
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The Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, led a higher education delegation, comprising senior representatives of Hong Kong universities, to Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam in April. The group met the education ministers of the two countries and visited universities and schools there. In both places, Mr Suen spoke at luncheon meetings on Hong Kong's education reform.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, and the Director-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government Financial Services Office, Mr Fang Xinghai, participated in a joint roadshow in Indonesia and Malaysia in May. Professor Chan spoke on the subject, 'Hong Kong and Shanghai: Internationalisation of RMB Markets' at seminars in the Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. He also met government leaders and leaders in the financial sectors of the two countries.
In July, the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, visited Singapore to speak at the 45th Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine. He also met Singapore's health minister and representatives of medical organisations and visited several medical facilities there.
The Hong Kong and Economic and Trade Office in Singapore (Singapore ETO) continued to organise business, cultural and public relations events across Southeast Asia during the year to promote Hong Kong as Asia's premier business hub, financial centre and tourist destination.
To celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Singapore ETO co-hosted with the HKTB cocktail receptions in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore.
Singapore ETO held similar receptions in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in July to introduce its new director, Mr Fong Ngai, to friends and officials in the countries' public and private sectors.