Ethnic minority voters on Sunday cast their ballots in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council general election, saying they hope that new lawmakers will address their communities’ concerns and focus on economic issues, especially tourism recovery.

They also spoke positively of the electoral arrangements, noting that sufficient information and assistance were provided in multiple languages to help ethnic minority voters.

Ashfaqur Rahman Palash, president of the Bangladesh Association of Hong Kong, was among the early voters at the Mei Foo Sun Chuen Community Centre on Sunday morning.

Palash said his primary focus was on economic development, and he hopes that the newly elected lawmakers would pay greater attention to reviving tourism, particularly by implementing stronger measures to attract visitors from Western countries. He also stressed the importance of the ethnic minority vote as "Hong Kong is also my home”.

"We need to elect the right people for the job so that our children can have a better future here and Hong Kong's economy get better," Palash added.

He noted that candidates had made their election information and materials available in multiple languages, such as Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu, to ensure that ethnic minority voters could "get all the instruction very properly”.

At the polling station in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Mohammad Ilyas, director of the China Overseas Friendship Association, said over the past two months, his organization had actively encouraged residents from diverse ethnic communities to vote in the election.

Ilyas said he hopes the new Legislative Council will advocate for more support service centers for ethnic minorities to better serve his community. He also envisions that in the future, members of ethnic minorities, who comprise over eight percent of Hong Kong’s population, can take part in the lawmaking process, ensuring their views and needs are adequately represented.

Ilyas also noted that the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire weighs equally heavy on the hearts of the ethnic minority community. He said he hopes that the incoming Legislative Council will seriously improve the city’s fire safety regulations to better protect all residents and buildings in Hong Kong.

READ MORE: LegCo poll: Livelihood, fire aftermath on top of HK voters’ minds

This year, apart from 612 ordinary polling stations, designated polling stations have also been introduced to accommodate voters with specific needs, including two near the Kowloon Masjid and the Wan Chai Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple, to serve ethnic-minority voters.

William Xu and Ida Xue contributed to the story.