Trade Director to attend the First APEC Senior Officials Meeting in 2000 (Wednesday, February 9, 2000)

The Director-General of Trade, Mr Joshua Law, will leave Hong Kong tomorrow (Thursday) to attend the First Senior Officials Meeting (SOM I) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2000 to be held on 13 and 14 February in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. It will be the first SOM under the Brunei APEC chairmanship this year.

The Hong Kong, China delegation to SOM I and related meetings will comprise officials from the Trade and Industry Bureau, Financial Services Bureau, Trade Department, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore (which covers Hong Kong's commercial relations with Brunei), Customs and Excise Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Immigration Department and Industry Department.

Preceding SOM I, Senior Officials will gather for a retreat on 12 February for an informal exchange and discussion of the themes and priorities of APEC's work this year.

At SOM I, Senior Officials will consider how to take forward instructions and initiatives arising from the APEC Economic Leaders' and Ministerial Meetings held in Auckland, New Zealand in September last year.

Major issues for discussion will include trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, APEC's contribution to the strengthening of the multilateral trading system, economic and technical cooperation (Ecotech), electronic commerce and means to promote greater interaction with the community.

A number of committees/sub-committees will meet after SOM I, also in Bandar Seri Begawan. These include the SOM Sub-Committee on Ecotech, Committee on Trade and Investment, Economic Committee, Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance, Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures, Informal Experts Group on Mobility of Business People, Group on Services, Market Access Group, Government Procurement Experts Group, Infrastructure Workshop and Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Gender Integration.

Member economies of APEC are: 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.