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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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Press Release 2009

Hong Kong donates US$200,000 to APEC
Monday, February 16, 2009

Supporting the promotion of free trade and trade facilitation by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Hong Kong today (February 16) donated US$200,000 to APEC to undertake work on the reduction of trade transaction costs and other trade facilitation work. The donation was made at the margins of the APEC 2009 First Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM I) in Singapore.

Implementation of the Second Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP II) is one of the major tasks of APEC in 2009. Focusing on the areas of customs procedures, business mobility, standards and conformance and electronic commerce, the TFAP II aims for a further reduction of trade transaction costs by 5% in the period 2007-2010.

The Director-General of Trade and Industry, Mr Joseph Lai said, "Hong Kong, China has been playing an active role in the formulation and implementation of TFAP II. Building on past work, this year APEC will work towards developing an objective methodology to measure the effect of implementing TFAP II in terms of reduction in trade transaction costs. We have made a contribution of US$200,000 to the APEC Policy Support Unit to undertake this task and other work on TFAP II."

"APEC is the leading forum in promoting free trade and trade facilitation in the Asia-Pacific region. In the face of the current challenges in the global economy, it is all the more important to continue to streamline processes and reduce trade transaction costs. We hope that our contribution will support initiatives that lead us closer to the shared vision of free trade. It also reflects the importance we attach to the successful implementation of TFAP II." he said.

Mr Lai and the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Ambassador Michael Tay, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the donation today in Singapore.

Mr Lai, leading the Hong Kong, China delegation attending APEC SOMI, discussed with senior trade officials of APEC member economies a range of issues aimed at strengthening regional economic integration and promoting trade and investment facilitation.

Ends