Continuing his visit to Qatar, Chief Executive John Lee today met local government and business leaders there, and witnessed the reaching of 35 agreements or memoranda of understanding among government departments, enterprises and institutions from Hong Kong, the Mainland and Qatar.
In the morning, Mr Lee met Qatar’s Minister of Labour Ali bin Saeed bin Samikh Al Marri to discuss plans for enhancing talent exchanges. Highlighting that Hong Kong is home to five of the world’s top 100 universities and is on a path to become an international hub for post-secondary education, Mr Lee emphasised that the city offers a Belt & Road Scholarship to encourage students from countries or regions in the Belt & Road Initiative to pursue studies in the city. He invited more young people from Qatar to study in Hong Kong and develop careers in the city.
Afterwards, the Chief Executive and members of his delegation attended a roundtable meeting with representatives of the Qatari Businessmen Association and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Extolling Hong Kong’s robust legal system, resilient financial system and simple and low tax regime, Mr Lee said he welcomed Qatari enterprises to capitalise on the city’s advantages in connecting with both Mainland China and other parts of the world under the “one country, two systems” principle. He added that Qatari enterprises can leverage Hong Kong’s financial, logistics and professional services, and its bridging roles, to tap into the Mainland market.
In the afternoon, Mr Lee attended a business lunch where he spoke of Hong Kong’s development opportunities and business advantages to over 300 local political and business representatives.
He also took the opportunity to announce that Hong Kong and Qatar have substantially concluded negotiations on an Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement, and will begin discussions on mutual recognition arrangements for their respective Authorized Economic Operator Programmes, in order to create a more favourable environment for the flow of capital and goods.
In addition, the Chief Executive revealed that Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders can visit Qatar visa-free for up to 30 days. He said he looks forward to deepening co-operation with Qatar, adding that Hong Kong and Qatar can jointly seize development opportunities brought by the Greater Bay Area and the Belt & Road Initiative.
Government departments, enterprises and institutions from Hong Kong, the Mainland and Qatar also announced 35 memoranda of understanding or agreements covering economic co-operation, investment, technology, legal collaboration, finance, banking, and capital market development.
Besides co-operation between Hong Kong and Qatar, two agreements were signed directly between Mainland and Qatari enterprises to foster co-operation in financial services and high-end manufacturing. A tripartite agreement was also signed among Hong Kong, the Mainland and Qatar to strengthen co-operation in fintech, covering Web3 and artificial intelligence.
After the lunch event, Mr Lee visited Hamad International Airport in Doha to learn about an autonomous vehicle pilot project there.
The project involves participation by UISEE, a Mainland Chinese enterprise which has established its international headquarters in Hong Kong. Having also collaborated with Hong Kong International Airport on autonomous vehicle projects, UISEE has drawn on those experiences to promote its technology to overseas clients.
Mr Lee and the delegation will depart for Kuwait tonight.
