Chief Executive Carrie Lam met Vice-President of the European Commission for the Euro & Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis at the Chief Executive's Office today.
Mr Dombrovskis is also in charge of the Financial Stability, Financial Services & Capital Markets Union.
Mrs Lam welcomed Mr Dombrovskis' visit to Hong Kong and briefed him on the city's latest situation and development direction.
She said with the dual advantages of "one country" and "two systems", Hong Kong is authorised by the Central Government to conduct external affairs on its own in accordance with the Basic Law.
Through conducting more government-to-government dialogues and establishing more bilateral and multilateral ties with the Mainland and overseas countries, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will promote its advantages to attract more Mainland and international enterprises, investors and talent to Hong Kong.
The HKSAR Government will also seek to enter into free trade agreements, investment promotion and protection agreements and comprehensive avoidance of double taxation agreements with other economies to further strengthen Hong Kong's ties with other places.
She said Hong Kong, as a global financial centre, offshore renminbi business hub and international asset management centre, will capitalise on the opportunities arising from the Belt & Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development and give full play to the city's advantages to promote diversified development of Hong Kong's financial market, including the development of financial technologies and green bonds.
Noting Hong Kong and the EU have established strong bilateral ties with close economic and trade relationships, she encouraged European enterprises to choose Hong Kong as the platform to expand their businesses to the Mainland and Asia.
