Press Release
DGTI attends first APEC senior officials' meeting in Ha Noi
Thursday, March 2, 2006
The Director-General of Trade and Industry, Mr Raymond Young, joined senior officials of the other 20 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies at the First Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM I) of APEC in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on March 1 and 2 to discuss a wide range of trade and economic issues under this year's theme of "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity".
Senior Officials had in-depth discussions on support for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations after the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference; implementation of the Busan Roadmap to the Bogor Goals; trade facilitation; enhancing human and energy security; anti-corruption and transparency; reforming APEC and promoting tourism and cultural exchange. Agreement was reached in different areas to promote trade and investment in the region and to address the threat of the outbreak of avian influenza.
Mr Young said he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
"We are pleased that the meeting agreed that rendering support for the DDA remains top on the agenda of this year's APEC meetings. The Hong Kong Ministerial Conference has formed a solid basis for the DDA negotiations to enter its final year. APEC's continued strong support for the DDA negotiations is of crucial importance in pushing forward the process, and is demonstrated by the Senior Officials' intention to prepare a standalone statement to be agreed at the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade in June, to push forward the DDA negotiations," he said.
"Member economies also had fruitful discussions on the work plan to implement the Busan Roadmap to realise the APEC Bogor Goals of free trade and investment by 2010 for industrialised economies and by 2020 for developing economies, including to reduce transaction costs by a further 5% across the region by 2010 on top of the earlier agreed 5% reduction to be achieved by 2006," he said. "The further reduction on transaction costs will facilitate the trade and bring benefits to the business in the region.
"Hong Kong, China is pleased that the meeting also endorsed the trade facilitation work plan which laid down the framework for improving the business environment in the region. To contribute to the process, Hong Kong, China has agreed to continue to serve as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Trade and Investment as well as the convener of a working group on trade facilitation," he said.
"On enhancing human health security, the meeting endorsed the work plan to implement the Initiatives on Preparing for and Mitigating an Influenza Pandemic and various initiatives including the hosting of an APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Avian and Pandemic Influenza in Viet Nam in 2006. We welcomed the initiatives and used the opportunity to invite Members to attend an avian flu seminar to be held by the APEC Business Advisory Committee in April in Hong Kong," he said.
As regards the initiatives to help strengthen APEC's work on good corporate governance, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption will organise a symposium on "Corporate Corruption, Integrity and Governance" in May. APEC SOM I has endorsed Hong Kong, China's financial support proposal to facilitate wider APEC member economies' participation in the Symposium. The Symposium will bring together participants from anti-corruption agencies, law enforcement organisations, regulatory bodies, professionals and academics from all over the world to share their knowledge and expertise on the subject.
Issues also discussed at SOM I included economic and technical cooperation; free trade agreements/regional trade agreements, secured trade and Individual Action Plan peer review process in 2007.
During his stay in Ha Noi, Mr Young took the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with senior officials from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
Mr Young returned to Hong Kong tonight (March 2).
APEC was established in 1989 to further enhance economic growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community. APEC has 21 Member Economies, namely 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.
Ends