SEPANG: Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee Ka-chiu arrived here today for a three-day working visit to Malaysia.

This is his first visit to the country since assuming the position of the fifth Chief Executive of HKSAR in 2022.

Lee flew in from Jakarta, Indonesia via Garuda Indonesia and was received on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 by Foreign Ministry Deputy Chief of Protocol Nor’Azam Mohd Idrus and Deputy Chief of Ceremony of the Malaysian Government Ahmad Moktar Shahul Hamid.

Malaysia is Lee’s last stop of a three-country tour after Singapore and Indonesia, a trip to forge closer ties with Asean members.

Upon arrival, Lee was given a royal salute before inspecting a guard of honour mounted by 28 officers and personnel from the First Battalion of the Royal Ranger Regiment, led by Captain Muhammad Syafiq Najmi Mazlan.

Lee is scheduled to pay a courtesy call to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya today, and both leaders are expected to exchange views on the current state of bilateral cooperation and the way forward, especially in the field of trade and economy, innovation and technology and people-to-people exchange.

Hong Kong has been Malaysia’s major trading partner, ranking as the ninth largest in 2022.

Total trade between Malaysia and HKSAR was valued at RM113.2 billion (US$25.69 billion) in 2022, an increase of 20 per cent from 2021.

Malaysia enjoyed a significant trade surplus of RM78 billion (US$17.66 billion).