Chief Executive John Lee on Friday said he is positive about Hong Kong’s chances of being admitted to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade pact.

Wrapping up his week-long tour of the Asean region, Lee said the SAR signed a total of 33 memorandums of understanding with Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia during his visit.

He also noted that Hong Kong officially requested to join the RCEP last year, and he is confident that the SAR will get the approval after gaining the support of these three countries.

“I, of course, have good optimism... we will work tirelessly to ensure that our case is well made out to member states, and the values that we can create will be beneficial to regional co-operation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CE said Hong Kong will join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, despite reports that Washington has decided to bar him from joining the summit.

“Hong Kong is a member economy of APEC, so I will expect the host economy to act in accordance with APEC rules, guidelines and conventions to issue invitations to the leaders of the member economy,” he said.

“Hong Kong will participate in the APEC meeting in accordance with these rules.”