Dacic meets with Hong Kong chief executive

HONG KONG - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic met with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday.

Dacic, who is in Hong Kong as part of a trip to China, thanked his host for the cordial welcome and said he was pleased to be on his first-ever visit to Hong Kong - a special administrative region of China - and to be meeting with Lee for the first time, the Serbian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Due to its great economic strength, Hong Kong is one of the world's main financial and trade hubs, Dacic said.

Noting the importance of establishing police cooperation and other forms of cooperation with Hong Kong in line with an agreement between the presidents of Serbia and China and signed documents on strategic cooperation, Dacic underscored the importance of taking the strategic partnership to a higher level and bolstering the steely friendship between the two countries.

He said areas of mutual interest such as security, the fight against transnational and high-technology crime as well as the fight against terrorism financing held great prospects for future cooperation.

Conveying Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's regards to Lee, Dacic invited him to visit Serbia, and the Chinese official accepted the invitation, the statement also said.