Press Release

Hong Kong joins other WTO members in tendering collective services
requests to target markets

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Hong Kong, China, has joined other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to tender eight sets of collective requests for further liberalisation in different services areas to their target markets.

The new round of services negotiations was launched in 2000, and negotiations have proceeded in the form of request-and-offer insofar as market access is concerned. The Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, adopted in December 2005, mandates, among others, that in addition to bilateral negotiations, the request-offer negotiations should also be pursued on a plurilateral basis and that members presenting collective requests to other members should submit such requests by February 28, 2006, or as soon as possible thereafter.

"In pursuit of our objective to achieve further liberalisation in those services areas in which Hong Kong possesses export interests and capacity, we have, since the conclusion of the Sixth Ministerial Conference, worked diligently and closely with groups of other members who share similar interests to hammer out collective requests on our priority areas," a government spokesman said.

"We and our partners have come up with eight sets of collective requests covering all Hong Kong's priority areas, and have issued them to our target markets in the past few days."

"We expect that the plurilateral negotiations will bring efforts together to open up more target markets. This will enable a more effective use of members' resources, particularly of those small delegations like Hong Kong, China," the spokesman said.

As mandated in the Ministerial Declaration, members to whom such requests have been made have to consider the requests, and plurilateral negotiations should be organised for the participation of all members. The first round of plurilateral negotiations on the various requests will be conducted in the upcoming WTO services meetings later this month.

Below is an account of the eight sets of collective requests for further liberalisation that Hong Kong, China, has signed on -

• six collective requests covering specific services sectors including :

- audiovisual services, tendered by 6 Members to 28 other members;
- computer and related services, tendered by 17 members to 16 other members;
- financial services, tendered by 10 members to 21 other members;
- logistics services, tendered by 7 members to 34 other members;
- maritime transport services, tendered by 13 members to 26 other members; and
- telecommunications services, tendered by 10 members to 24 other members.

• one collective request covering the cross border and consumption abroad modes of supply (modes 1 and 2) across a number of specified services sectors, tendered by 10 members to 20 other members.
  
  
• one collective request on those exemptions to the most-favoured-nation treatment (MFN exemptions) being maintained by members, tendered by 10 members to 16 other members.

More information about the collective requests is available at the website of the Trade and Industry Department (http://www.tid.gov.hk/english/trade_relations/tradefora/wto_servnegot.html).

Given the significance of services trade to Hong Kong, the Government attaches great importance to the current round of services negotiations. Having regard to the timelines set in the Ministerial Declaration for concluding the services negotiations by the end of this year, there are likely to be intensive negotiations among members throughout the year.

To prepare for the services negotiations and to ensure that the prevailing interests of the community are represented, the Government will shortly conduct another round of public consultation to invite input from different segments of society, including chambers of commerce, business organisations, practitioners, non-governmental organisations and the general public on the areas that Hong Kong, China, may pursue with its trading partners on the liberalisation of trade in services.

Any views and suggestions on the ongoing services negotiations may be sent to the Multilateral Division of the Trade and Industry Department, or via fax (2390 7479) or email (mdiv1@tid.gov.hk).

 

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