President Barroso visits Hong Kong
President Barroso is in Hong Kong today to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the EU Office in Hong Kong and for several bilateral meetings. His first official visit to Hong Kong as President of the European Commission took place in 2005.
In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the President will meet the Chief Executive Chun-Ying Leung, and the President of the Legislative Council, Jasper Tsang.
He will deliver a speech to the Hong Kong business community hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce and attend a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the EU Office's establishment.
Hong Kong is an international financial hub and one of the freest economies in the world. With close to 2,000 EU companies based in Hong Kong, the EU is the largest foreign business constituency in Hong Kong. Bilateral trade in goods reached €44.2 billion and grew by 5.9% in 2012.
"Hong Kong is a thriving and dynamic city and an important regional hub for trade and investment, thanks to its rule of law, freedom of information and expression as well as high transparency standards. The EU supports the "one country two systems" principle and in this context will remain a very close partner of Hong Kong. Our relations are strongly anchored in history but are continuously projected into the future", the President said ahead of this visit.