HONG KONG, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) departed Wednesday for Thailand to unveil the HKSAR's third economic and trade office in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Chief Executive Carrie Lam is scheduled to officiate at the opening ceremony on Thursday of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Bangkok, another ETO in ASEAN cities after Jakarta and Singapore.

The opening of the new ETO will further enable Hong Kong to explore the ASEAN market, especially after a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the HKSAR and ASEAN was signed in 2017, Lam told media at the Hong Kong International Airport before her departure Wednesday afternoon.

In the HKSAR government's 2019-2020 budget delivered Wednesday morning, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said that the government will further expand Hong Kong's market coverage by enlarging its FTA and ETO networks, so as to create more business opportunities for enterprises.

According to the HKSAR government's Information Services Department, during her visit to Bangkok, Lam will also meet with senior officials of the Thai government, address a business seminar co-hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, and officiate at the opening ceremony of collaboration activities of a Hong Kong arts group and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.