Sister Mary Liew Kiah Eng, President
Brother Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General
Distinguished Guests,
Sisters and Brothers,

A very good day to all of you. It is my honour to witness this precious moment of the SNTUC National Delegates' Conference, in which the new central committee of NTUC will be elected to facilitate the labour movement in Singapore.  I would like to take this chance to send our warmest regards to all SNTUC brothers and sisters on behalf of all 400,000 members from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Union.

For nearly 60 years, the SNTUC has been working hand in hand with the Singapore government and the employers under the unwavering TRIPARTISM principle to provide a stable and pleasant working environment for Singaporean of all collars, ages and nationalities in every sector.  We, the HKFTU, share similar visions of the SNTUC on the well-being of workers in the society. While the SNTUC pursues the FUN, the WORKING and the CARING for the workers under the principle of TRIPARTISM, we pursue the RIGHTS and BENEFITS of the workers under the principles of PATRIOTISM, SOLIDARITY and PARTICIPATION.  In both SNTUC and HKFTU visions, the nation and the workers share the same interest and are thus always symbiotic.

The HKFTU highly appreciates the active role and contribution of SNTUC in Singapore. The 2010s has become an era in which workers are facing the challenge from globalisation and technology upgrade. It is well noted that with the support of SNTUC, many worker-oriented schemes (e.g. PCPs, CSP, WIS, etc.) are to be implemented in Singapore to prepare the workers for the inevitable economic and technological changes.  In Hong Kong, we are facing the same challenge too.  We will enjoy every chance that we may learn from the SNTUC and to work with the SNTUC in all kind of bilateral exchanges and international or regional programmes. So that we can further enhance our capacity to help the workers in facing the changes with the support of our motherland, the People's Republic of China. One development we are focusing on is the Greater Bay Area. We have facilitated internship and career booth for the Hong Kong people to work in the bay area, providing them with a new opportunity apart from the local labour market. The HKFTU will further enhance our service in the bay area including establishing employment platform and entrepreneurship incubation centre.

I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our solidarity and fraternal relationship with the SNTUC. And I hope we can work together to strengthen the international solidarity among trade unions in the region and the world over.

Thank you.