Carrie Lam picks Singapore for her first foreign trip as HK Chief Executive

Hong Kong

CARRIE Lam will become the first Hong Kong Chief Executive to visit Singapore in almost a decade when she arrives in the city-state next week, and her choice of her first overseas destination since her inauguration highlights Singapore's role as a strategic partner, say analysts.

During her two-day visit, Mrs Lam is expected to study the Republic's innovative technology and land development policies, as well as look for opportunities to further develop economic ties between the two cities and within Asean.

The Aug 2-3 tour will include a meeting with senior Singapore government officials and a visit to the opening reception of the photo exhibition "Lee Fook Chee - Son of Singapore, Photographer of Hong Kong" in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule.

She will also visit GovTech Hive, the Singapore government's innovation lab for digital services, as well as the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Civil Service College.

Mrs Lam's itinerary reflects her interest in looking to Singapore for exemplary models as her administration strives to develop Hong Kong's nascent innovative technology sector and tackle land development issues in a city with soaring residential and commercial property prices, said political observer and Election Committee member Roger Wong.

"In the innovative technology side, Singapore is doing a lot better than Hong Kong. Picking Singapore as her first stop overseas could indicate that the Hong Kong government may be focusing or putting some more weight in developing the technological aspect of Hong Kong, where the current focus is on info-technology," said Mr Wong. "There's also a lot to learn from Singapore in terms of land development . . . and how to efficiently use land."

With increasing trade between Hong Kong and Asean and ongoing negotiations for a Hong Kong-Asean bilateral free trade agreement, Mrs Lam's trip is also part of Hong Kong's economic strategy in the South-east Asian region, said Terence Chong, executive director of the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

According to government statistics, Hong Kong was Asean's seventh-largest trading partner in 2015 and, as a group, Asean was Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner in 2015, after the mainland and ahead of Europe.

Total merchandise trade between Hong Kong and Asean has also registered an annual average growth rate of 3.2 per cent between 2011 and 2015, with Singapore as the top Asean trading partner.

"Mrs Lam wants to learn from Singapore, which is similar in size, economic structure and population and has a more well-balanced economy, as well as to cooperate with Singapore," said Prof Chong. "Asean is also developing very rapidly. . . We have increasing ties and trade between Hong Kong and Asean, and with the One Belt, One Road initiative, Asean will be a target for mainland China and Hong Kong, and Singapore will be a strategic partner for Hong Kong."

As the first Hong Kong Chief Executive to visit Singapore in nine years, Mrs Lam could also be using the trip to signal a new era of leadership, one that is more focused on building closer ties with neighbours than brandishing the backing of mainland China, said political analyst Benson Wong.

This is especially key in the wake of the release of nine Singapore military Terrex infantry carriers, which were detained in Hong Kong last November and raised tensions between both sides, Prof Chong added.