Director-General of Trade to Attend APEC Meetings in Auckland
Friday, September 3, 1999

The Director-General of Trade, Mr Joshua Law, will depart for Auckland, New Zealand, tomorrow (Saturday) to attend an Informal Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to be held on 7-8 September.

The Informal SOM will make final preparation for the Eleventh APEC Ministerial Meeting to be held on 9-10 September, also in Auckland. The Secretary for Trade and Industry, Mr Chau Tak Hay, will represent Hong Kong, China at the Ministerial Meeting.

The Ministerial Meeting will be followed by the Seventh APEC Economic Leaders Meeting to be held on 12-13 September. The Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, will represent the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to attend this annual gathering of APEC Economic Leaders.

The Hong Kong, China delegation to the Informal SOM, led by Mr Law, comprises officials from the Trade and Industry Bureau and the Trade Department.

The Informal SOM will discuss various APEC issues under the themes of expanding business opportunities in the APEC region, strengthening markets, and broadening support for APEC.

Before the Informal SOM, Mr Law will conduct a number of bilateral meetings with Senior Officials of other member economies to exchange views on various issues.

APEC is a regional forum set up in 1989 for high-level government-to-government dialogue and cooperation on trade and economic issues, which has 21 member economies including Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Republic of the Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and Viet Nam.