Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau has been shoring up support for Hong Kong’s bid to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), during his trip to Cambodia.

In a social media post on Saturday, his bureau said the minister attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic ministers consultation meeting, and held separate bilateral talks with several leaders, including the association’s deputy secretary-general, Satvinder Singh.

Yau also met with his Cambodian counterpart, Pan Sorasak, as well as Indonesian vice minister of trade, Jerry Sambuaga.

The government, later in the day, said the secretary had discussed issues relating to the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement and the Investment Agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN with economic ministers.

“The conclusion of the two agreements is a strategic move in unlocking huge economic potential and injecting new impetus for our long-term and sustainable trade and economic development,” Yau said at the meeting.

“Notwithstanding the pandemic, the continued robust growth of bilateral trade between Hong Kong and ASEAN cannot be a better testament to the solid foundation that we have built over the years. In the first half of 2022, bilateral trade in goods increased by 12.1 percent year-on-year to reach US$84 billion.”

Yau will attend a luncheon to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the the establishment of the SAR and visit Hong Kong enterprises in Phnom Penh on Sunday, before returning to the territory in the evening.

Last updated: 2022-09-17 HKT 18:16