Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the People's Republic of China Prof. Ante Simonić, Ph. D., made his inaugural visit to Hong Kong where he stayed from 23 – 25 March 2009

On that occasion, Ambassador Simonić met with representatives of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, heads of the Faculty of Medicine, Red Cross, tourism professionals, and several Croats working in Hong Kong. Organisational support for the visit of Ambassador Simonić to Hong Kong was provided by Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia Gordon Wu.

With Director of Protocol the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tony Nguyen, and Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board Daisy Lam, among other topics, Ambassador talked about the possibility to organise a Hong Kong trade mission to Croatia, with special focus on tourism. Mrs. Lam invited the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Beijing to present the Croatian culture and tourism in the Hong Kong Parade, which takes place during Chinese New Year celebration.

Ambassador Simonić was received by Prof. Sum-Ping Lee, Dr. Sc., Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the Hong Kong University, and Prof Paul M. Vanhoutte, Dr. Sc., Head of Pharmacology and Pharmacy Department. When discussing collaboration with Croatian universities, they also talked about six to eighteen months long scholarships for Croatian scientists. The Department of Physics of the Hong Kong University also expressed willingness to realize such scholarships.

Ambassador Simonoć also met with the Jetour Tourist Agency employees who presented activities of the Agency concerning realization of travel arrangements for Chinese tourists visiting Croatia.