Hong Kong’s John Lee to visit Middle East to forge economic ties, says he is ‘racing against the clock’ for business and concedes Singapore’s ‘advantage’
- Chief Executive John Lee in New Year’s Day speech says two main targets are to get city out of the Covid shadow and implement blueprint measures
- He stresses need to ‘let people’s lives return to pre-pandemic ways as much as possible’ and open border with mainland ‘gradually and orderly’
Hong Kong’s leader is planning to visit the Middle East in the coming months to forge close economic ties with Gulf states as part of a push that also includes catching up with Singapore, with the chief executive conceding the island nation has “an advantage” over the city because of its earlier reopening to the world.
Delivering his New Year’s Day speech also on Sunday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who stressed he was “racing against the clock”, underscored two major targets for his government in 2023 – get Hong Kong out of the shadow of Covid-19 and implement measures laid out in his policy blueprint.
“We will let people’s lives return to pre-pandemic ways as much as possible, and then reopen the border with mainland China gradually and orderly so that economic activities will quickly resume,” Lee said, vowing to “do our best”.
Hongkongers ushered in the new year along Victoria Harbour in the absence of most social-distancing rules, after authorities last week eased curbs in the most drastic move since the pandemic struck three years ago.
