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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The delegation of the Legislative Council continued the parliamentary visit in Bremen, a federal state of Germany, yesterday (March 5).
Delegation members started the day by attending a meeting with the Head of the Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations Office to the Senator for Economic Affairs, Labour and Ports, Mr Christian Gutschmidt. Mr Gutschmidt delivered a presentation on Bremen as a business centre. Members were encouraged to learn that the local business community considered Hong Kong the best place in Asia for expanding business.
After a tour of the Bremen City Hall, delegation members met with the Desk Officer for Mobility Management to the Senator for the Environment, Construction and Transport, Mr Jan Bembennek. Taking the Travel Development Plan as an example, Mr Bembennek introduced the instruments facilitating civic participation at the parliamentary and district levels.
Delegation members then attended a meeting with the representative of the Youth Advisory Councils, Ms Heike Blanck, and the Deputy Head of the Regional Centre for Civic Education, Mr Sebastian Ellinghaus. As the right to vote started at age 16 in Bremen, the speakers shared their experience with delegation members in formulating the methods to engage young people in public and political affairs.
In the afternoon, delegation members met with the Parliamentary Manager of Social Democratic Party of the Bremen Parliament, Mr Frank Pietrzok. The delegation had an in-depth discussion with Mr Pietrzok on the dynamics between different political parties in the Parliament.
Delegation members then met with the President of the Bremen Parliament, Mr Christian Weber. Mr Weber gave members a briefing on the political landscape of the Parliament.
In the evening, delegation members joined a dinner with representatives of the State Chancellery. The dinner was also attended by two academics, namely political scientist at the University of Bremen Professor Lothar Probst and the Professor of Modern Asian History at the Jacobs University, Professor Dominic Sachsenmaier. Delegation members took the opportunity to gain a better understanding on the development of party politics in Germany and the latest development of Sino-German relations.
The delegation will visit the Bremen Statistical Office today (March 6) and then depart for Hong Kong to conclude the six-day parliamentary visit in Germany.
Ends/Friday, March 6, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:24
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