China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Monday welcomed the government of Thailand's decision to set up a special travel arrangement for cross-border control with five economies including the HKSAR as a first step in relaxing its inbound passenger control.

Thailand's Deputy Secretary General to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs Kobsak Pootrakool announced the special arrangement at a webinar titled "Resilience Strategy: Thailand-Hong Kong Partnership" jointly organized by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the HKSAR government and the Thailand Board of Investment on Monday.

"If the special relaxation arrangements for cross-border control can be established between the two places, cross-boundary business exchange can be gradually resumed for Hong Kong, which is set to give a tremendous boost to our economic recovery," Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government Edward Yau said in a press release.

Yau said that on establishing the relevant mechanism with Thailand, it is most important to contain the potential risk brought about by the increase of passenger flow and continuously monitor the epidemic development and prevention work of the two places while relaxing the control on inbound passenger traffic progressively.

"The discussion between the two sides will be based on science and aim to formulate simple and practical operation procedures. The relevant discussion will touch on details of the relaxation measures for cross-border control, specific operation arrangements to reduce the risks of spreading the virus across the borders, the provision of transport services and more," Yau added.

The webinar attracted nearly 600 participants from chambers of commerce, small and medium enterprises and start-ups in the HKSAR and Thailand, providing a platform for participants to share experience and insights of Hong Kong on applications of innovation and technology to combat COVID-19 epidemic, according to the press release.

It also facilitated Hong Kong enterprises intending to expand into the Thai market to better understand the local business environment, thereby fostering closer economic and trade collaboration with Thailand.