Chief Executive John Lee welcomed Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to Hong Kong on Friday, hailing the Singaporean leader's first official trip to the SAR since taking office as highly significant.

Lee received Wong at Government House and underscored the deep ties between the two cities at the meeting.

"Hong Kong and Singapore grow as the heartbeats of Asia and we have a long-standing friendship," Lee said, adding that both share a commitment to free trade, multilateralism and rules-based organisations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

"We believe in building bridges, dialogue and collaboration. We believe in win-win, creating a bigger cake for everybody."

Lee recalled making his own first official trip to Singapore as Chief Executive in 2023.

He expressed the hope for more frequent exchanges between leaders and senior officials of the two governments.

Wong for his part said he is looking forward to learning about Hong Kong’s latest developments, including its five-year plan and the Northern Metropolis project.

“I'd like to see what Hong Kong is doing and how Singapore can participate in some of these opportunities too,” he said.

Wong noted that the occasional competition between the cities is ultimately "healthy".

"When we connect with one another, the pie grows, and we both benefit because we both believe in free trade, we both believe in rules-based multilateralism," he said.

He added that closer cooperation between Singapore and Hong Kong is especially vital in an increasingly fragmented world.

Senior officials, including Financial Secretary Paul Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung and Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong also attended the meeting.


Edited by Aaron Tam