Yau made the announcement during the legislature’s special finance committee meeting on the budget.
The DAB’s Starry Lee, who’s also Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, asked how the SAR government planned to reduce its reliance on the US market amid the trade war.
She pointed to the fact that Beijing had tasked Hong Kong with strengthening its global connections.
Yau replied that officials like himself have been to different countries seeking new partnerships, and John Lee would also do so next month.
“In May, the CE will visit the Middle East together with [those from] mainland enterprises. So amid the geo-political tensions, we seek to further development in new markets in the Middle East as well as Asean,” the minister said.
“Among the 10 Asean countries, I’ve been to seven of them. Mr Lee has also led delegations to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. You can see the SAR government has been working proactively to connect with the world.”
Import and export sector lawmaker, Kennedy Wong from the DAB, asked whether the government plans to move some of its Economic and Trade Offices from Europe and the United States to new markets.
Yau said in response that his bureau had been making plans to move some of the offices around, and it would submit its proposals later.
Business and Professionals Alliance and industrial sector lawmaker, Jimmy Ng, meanwhile, asked for a direct communication channel with officials due to the trade war, saying the sector had been caught off-guard by the ever-changing developments.
The minister said in response that his bureau had held two recent meetings with the trade, saying the financial secretary could take the lead to liaise with the business sector if needed.