HK leader to set up civil service academy similar to S’pore’s

SINGAPORE — Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed optimism over the future of technological cooperation between the territory and Singapore, as she concluded her two-day official visit to the Republic yesterday.

“One of my main purposes in visiting Singapore is to identify more opportunities for the two sides to work together,” she told reporters after visiting GovTech Hive, a 13,000 sq ft government innovation lab for digital services.

“We want to stay competitive and become a ‘smart’ city — there is huge potential for the wider application of technology, so I look forward to further collaboration and exchanges between Hong Kong and Singapore in this area,” said Mrs Lam, 60.

Mrs Lam was in Singapore at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It was her first overseas trip since she was sworn in as chief executive on July 1.

After visiting the Civil Service College yesterday, Mrs Lam revealed plans for a similar institution in Hong Kong for its 170,000 public servants.

She recounted that she had visited the college five years ago.

“The reason I went to the college again is for this term of government to really explore in Hong Kong the setting up of a dedicated civil service academy or college to provide more training for our civil servants, especially in areas such as leadership, public participation, and the application and use of technology,” she said.

She added that plans for the college are still in the preliminary stage, and that Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi Kong will be visiting Singapore for further discussions. Mrs Lam also visited the Urban Redevelopment Authority and met PM Lee, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong for talks yesterday.

PM Lee and Mrs Lam reaffirmed the close relations between Singapore and Hong Kong, and noted that the two cities share many similarities and challenges, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) last night. “While both cities compete in some areas, there are also many fields in which both sides cooperate with each other.”

“They discussed deepening Singapore-Hong Kong and Asean (Association of South-east Asian Nations)-Hong Kong cooperation in wide-ranging areas including trade and investment, finance, civil aviation, and exploring potential collaboration on the Belt and Road Initiative,” said the statement, adding that both leaders welcomed the conclusion of the Asean-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement negotiations on July 31 and looked forward to its signing and early implementation.

The statement added: “DPM Teo and Chief Executive Lam exchanged views on tertiary and vocational education, research and development, as well as civil service training and reform. DPM Teo expressed confidence that Hong Kong will continue to prosper with its increasing integration with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.”

Mrs Lam discussed with Mr Goh the key priorities of her administration, including in the areas of economic development, housing and education. She left for Bangkok last night. Ben Ho WITH AGENCIES