Policy Address

International Trade Centre

44. Hong Kong is the world's sixth largest commodity trading centre. We are actively pursuing accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which covers 15 countries and a population of 2.2 billion and accounts for nearly 30% of the global trade volume. Accession to RCEP will help enterprises reduce their operating costs and open up overseas markets, thereby strengthening and capitalising on Hong Kong's status as an international trade centre.

45. We strive to support the convention and exhibition (C&E) industry in order to help SMEs obtain more overseas orders. We will extend the Convention and Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme to 30 June 2023. A new $1.4 billion scheme will be launched thereafter to subsidise more than 200 exhibitions to be staged in Hong Kong over three years. To consolidate Hong Kong's status as a premier venue for large-scale international C&E activities, we will take forward the AsiaWorld-Expo Phase 2 project, together with the Wan Chai North redevelopment project near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, to substantially increase large-scale C&E spaces.