Transcript of remarks by CE at media session before ExCo (with video)
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Reporter: Good morning, Mr Lee. The Hong Kong Journalists Association said last week that it had received multiple reports of journalists, including one from our outlet, being followed by unknown men. What is your response to this? And will you urge the Police to press on with the investigation? My second question is, this month you will be leading lawmakers on a trip to the Greater Bay Area (GBA). What are the concrete goals of this trip and what do you hope specifically comes out of it? Thanks.
Chief Executive: I will not spend time to talk about individual self-speculation or perception. But if anybody wants to seek assistance from the Police, they can do it.
About the visit to the GBA with legislators, this is something that I would very much like to do, particularly when we have already resumed normal travel with Mainland cities. We have always been looking for opportunities to familiarise ourselves with the developments of the GBA cities and also to appreciate how we can have more co-operation within the GBA. Legislators being part of the governance team of Hong Kong as a whole, I'm very keen to go with them so that we can study together different areas of developments in the GBA, so as to enhance co-operation with different cities for the benefit of Hong Kong, and for the benefit of the overall growth of the GBA. We will be interested to look at many areas but we also have to be pragmatic about how much time we can have in a visit, particularly with a large number of representatives from LegCo (Legislative Council). We have 90 legislators now, so how we can organise the study trip so that it can be done smoothly, we have to discuss with the Mainland cities to see, timewise, how the different locations of visits can be arranged for the benefit of ourselves and for the benefit of smooth running of the whole study trip.
Obviously, technology is an area that we're interested in, development, and how we can co-operate in areas such as manufacturing, youth development, and, for example, how Mainland cities tackle problems using IT (information technology), how we will be able to improve quality development, which is the main theme of the GBA. Quality development means talents development, application of IT, co-operation, and making use of regional co-operation as well. Hong Kong can play a part in attracting talents and also be the gateway between Mainland cities and the international world. We have, of course, advantages and strengths in some areas. Mainland cities have their advantages and strengths as well. So we want to create synergy in different areas, including education, technology, or even green environment development.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Issued at HKT 12:56
Issued at HKT 12:56
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Audio / Video
CE meets the media