HONG KONG, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Secretary for justice of the government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) started visit to Malaysia on Tuesday with a delegation of legal professionals to promote Hong Kong's ties with the southeast Asian country, especially in cooperation on international legal services.
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen led a delegation comprising some 30 legal and dispute resolution professionals to Kuala Lumpur, with an aim to "foster stronger ties between the two places" and to "promote Hong Kong's international legal and dispute resolution services," the HKSAR government's Department of Justice said.
Yuen began the visit by addressing the opening ceremony of a symposium organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and attended by over 1,000 participants.
"Building on the flourishing relation between Malaysia and Hong Kong, the Hong Kong-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and related Investment Agreement will be signed very soon," Yuen said at the opening ceremony.
"Not only will the FTA provide an appropriate platform to further enhance the flow of trade and investment between Hong Kong and ASEAN, it will further strengthen Hong Kong's role as the 'facilitator' for mainland businesses to go global and overseas enterprises to enter the mega mainland market," he pointed out.
He added that the FTA with ASEAN, together with the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, "will provide better access for ASEAN companies, including Malaysian companies, to the Chinese mainland market, as well as to the opportunities made possible by the Belt and Road Initiative."
In his opening remarks at a thematic session of the symposium in the afternoon on legal risk management, Yuen said that Hong Kong is not just the ideal bridge between the Chinese mainland and Malaysia, but also well placed to provide a wide range of professional services to facilitate Malaysian businesses in grasping emerging opportunities as projects contemplated under the Belt and Road Initiative unfold.
Highlighting the importance of legal risk management in modern business practice, Yuen said that with a robust legal regime, Hong Kong is ready and able to serve as an international and yet neutral legal risk management and dispute resolution hub.
The secretary and representatives of Hong Kong's legal and dispute resolution delegation will meet with relevant Malaysian officials to exchange views on matters of mutual interest and visit the arbitration center in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday before concluding the visit and returning to Hong Kong.
