Hong Kong and the European Union held their 12th annual Structured Dialogue meeting in Brussels today.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Vivian Sum and European External Action Service Deputy Managing Director for Asia & the Pacific Paola Pampaloni.

They discussed a wide range of subjects, reviewed all aspects of collaboration and identified areas for further co-operation.

Ms Sum said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to promote Hong Kong’s unique status and advantages under the Basic Law and “one country, two systems”, which empowers the city to establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with economies around the world in its own right.

Ms Pampaloni said the EU is looking forward to further strengthening and expanding relations with the HKSAR Government.

She added the EU is an interested party and a stakeholder in the future of Hong Kong, as well as a keen observer of its development.

They agreed to strengthen co-operation within the World Trade Organization, pledging to work together and support ongoing efforts to reform the WTO as a key pillar of rules-based, multilateral, open, free and non-discriminatory trade.

They also discussed ways to remove obstacles to bilateral trade.

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