Visit to Hong Kong

Today I am visiting Hong Kong to further progress the Australia-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (A-HKFTA) negotiations and to drive more tourism investment into Australia.

I will meet with Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Edward Yau, to build momentum for A-HKFTA.

Australia is seeking a modern agreement with Hong Kong, focused on securing significant access for our services exports, which continue to be a key driver of the Australian economy.

An agreement would provide greater market access and investor certainty to Australian and Hong Kong businesses. It would also create new opportunities for Australian exporters, particularly service providers.

During my visit I will attend one of Asia Pacific's premier hotel investment conferences, HICAP, to meet with major investors to encourage them to expand their investments in Australian tourism infrastructure.

Our tourism industry is highly attractive to potential investors as Australia keeps setting new tourism records. Spending by tourists reached a new record of $103.2 billion in the year ending June 2017 while Australia attracted more than 8 million international tourists during the same period.

Improving accommodation and other tourism infrastructure across our nation is vital to sustaining healthy growth of this sector.

Hong Kong is an important economic partner for Australia and is ranked eighth for Australian exports and fifth as a source of foreign direct investment.