(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive Carrie Lam today said that with her new political team she hoped to start immediately planning for Hong Kong’s economic recovery.

Meeting the media with the five newly appointed principal officials, Mrs Lam said Hong Kong needed to seize the opportunities presented by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

She noted that this round of appointments could ensure the city grasped those opportunities to help the economy rebound.

“Hong Kong is in a very difficult situation now, apart from the pandemic, we are going into a major economic recession with high unemployment and so on, so we really need to start immediately to plan for Hong Kong’s economic recovery, especially in the several sectors which we attach importance to, and that is Hong Kong's financial services, Hong Kong's innovation and technology, Hong Kong's professional services and creative industries, and the many opportunities that will be available to Hong Kong under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.”

Mrs Lam also stressed that the reshuffling of her political team was not in response to the recent social unrest in Hong Kong.

“You presumed that as a result of last year’s social unrest there was a need for reshuffling of the political team. I never had that sort of plan and that is why it is not correct to say that it has taken so long, because the exercise of trying to change a number of principal official positions did not start from that date.”