July 16th, 2021
Honorary Consulate of Albania 🇦🇱
Location: 23 Floor, Admiralty Centre, Tower II, 18 Harcourt Road, Admiralty
Mirëdita (Good Day), everyone, welcome to our first visit to an Honorary Consulate! Entering the Albanian Consulate, we were confused to find ourselves in an established law firm with a great view. However, talking to the front desk, we were surprised to discover that this was in fact the Honorary Consulate of Albania. This was because, (as we found out that trip), Honorary Consulates often do not have their own offices, and instead reside in the businesses of their appointed local consuls. While they weren’t expecting our visit, the friendly secretary quickly ushered us to a waiting room, where they brought us refreshments to enjoy along with the amazing view of the Hong Kong skyline. We waited there, pampered by the comforting paintings that surrounded the room. Around 20 minutes later, we were greeted by Dr. Kennedy Wong, BBS JP, the Honorary Consul of Albania. He told us that the purpose of the consulate was largely to promote trade and economic cooperation, given there are less than 5 Albanian residents in Hong Kong. Furthermore, tourism has become a larger focus in the last several years given the granting of Visa-Free Travel for Hong Kong citizens. He also gave us some helpful insights into the roles and purpose of Honorary Consulates, which you can read about in the previous post. Given the substantial amount of hospitality we received and the important information we collected, we’d like to thank Dr. Wong and his staff for taking time out of their busy schedules to help us on our journey.
As such, we’d highly recommend a visit to Albania in the future (after COVID).