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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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Speeches

Speech by the Director-General of Trade and Industry, Ms Salina Yan, at the GS1 Asia Pacific Regional Forum 2019 (English only)
Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Following is the speech by the Director-General of Trade and Industry, Ms Salina Yan, at the GS1 Asia Pacific Regional Forum today (October 23) :

Joseph (Mr Joseph Phi), Miguel (Mr. Miguel Lopera), Renaud (Mr Renaud de Barbuat), Anna (Ms Anna Lin), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. It's my pleasure to join you at the GS1 Asia Pacific Regional Forum this morning. A very warm welcome to friends travelling from afar to attend the event.

From bar codes to GS1 system, from electronic data exchange to RFID implementation standards, GS1 has come a long way in driving and providing industry-wide solutions to businesses around the world. You help build visible and invisible infrastructure for businesses, large or small, to thrive in domestic and global markets. With the rise of new technologies and e-commerce, GS1 is also playing a key role in bridging the gap between the world of things and the world of data for enterprises to harness opportunities and face new challenges.

In the same vain, as an externally oriented economy, Hong Kong advocates and practises free and open trade and investment. We also value connectivity and common platform building. That's why we are keen to widen our free trade agreement (FTA) network and to strengthen multilateral and regional cooperation to push forward the frontier of trade liberalization and build common platforms for trade facilitation and for the promotion of e-commerce and the digital economy.

FTAs

So far, HK has signed 8 FTAs with 20 trading partners. In the latest FTA we signed with Australia in March this year, for example, the two sides have made market access commitments on courier services, freight transportation services in various modes of transport like maritime and road, as well as support services such as storage and warehousing services, and freight transport agency services, among others. The FTA also features forward-looking provisions to support e-commerce, including electronic signatures and paperless trading. In addition, both economies have agreed to keep electronic transmissions tariff-free and ensure that customs procedures and practices applying to goods traded between the two places are predictable, consistent, transparent and trade facilitating. Coupled with the commitment to bind bilateral merchandize at zero tariff, we envisage that bilateral trade flows between Hong Kong and Australia will be stimulated, thus bringing more business opportunities to the logistics and supply chain related industries.

Turning to the FTA we have with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which is entering into force in phases since June this year, there are rules and disciplines on simplifying and harmonising customs procedures, with the objective of facilitating trade and promoting customs co-operation. Substantial market access commitments covering trade in goods as well as trade in services have been made. For certain transport services sectors such as maritime transport, some ASEAN Member States have made commitments above the level of market access commitments under the WTO. "Trade facilitation/logistics" is also one of the priority areas under the ECOTECH Chapter of the FTA. Capacity building activities and technical assistance programmes will be organised to enhance co-operation between ASEAN and Hong Kong.

Another FTA which I must mention is the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) signed with the Mainland in 2003. With implementation for more than 15 years, the Arrangement has been expanded every year, and recently upgraded to embrace all key aspects of a high-level FTA.

For example, the CEPA Agreement on Trade in Goods signed last December introduces a General Rule of Origin, thus allowing full implementation of zero tariff preference on importation of goods of Hong Kong origin into the Mainland. As at September this year, over HKD106 billion worth of goods have been exported to the Mainland under CEPA. The tariff savings amounted to RMB7.3 billion.

The transport and logistics industry has been playing a vital role in exporting quality Hong Kong products which are well received by the Mainland consumers. It is therefore not surprising that the transport and logistics sector tops the chart in terms of the number of Hong Kong Service Supplier (HKSS) certificates issued by my department that allow enterprises to provide services in the Mainland under CEPA.

APEC

On regional collaboration, we have been participating actively in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) in supporting of APEC's supply chain connectivity agenda. We have been working to promote global data standards (GDS) in the region through APEC.

Our project with New Zealand is one example. Together with GS1 Hong Kong, we have worked to promote GDS at APEC through the conduct of a series of pilot projects for interested parties to have a first-hand experience on GDS in various trade routes, and to examine the benefits and costs of applying GDS on supply chain performance.

The overall outcome of the pilots is encouraging. The study conducted by the APEC Policy Support Unit demonstrates that GDS could serve as an effective trade facilitation tool to improve supply chain performance by enhancing efficiency, integrity, visibility and innovation. GDS would also strengthen institutional connectivity by contributing to better compliance by supply chain stakeholders and enhanced risk management of customs and border agencies. We believe that the work done would serve as useful reference for stakeholders to make more and better use of GDS in their cross-border supply chain management that would be particularly critical to the development of the global value chains across APEC.

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

Lastly, on the multilateral front, Hong Kong considers that through multilateral trade rules, the WTO can create a more transparent and facilitating e-commerce environment to promote global trade. We therefore support the work in Geneva towards the commencement of multilateral negotiations on the trade-related aspects of e-commerce. We also urge WTO Members to support the extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions upon its expiry in December 2019 to ensure continuity in the interim.

Conclusion

It is a troubling fact that the world has seen a lot of discontent and uncertainties recently. IMF and other organisations have sounded warning bells on world economic and trade performance. Hong Kong is committed to putting in place initiatives that will sustain trade. We welcome suggestions and advice from you on ways to forge closer partnership with our trading partners to enhance regional co-operation and achieve sustainable development of our domestic and global economy.

On a happier note, this year's GS1 Asia Pacific Regional Forum happens to coincides with GS1 Hong Kong's 30th anniversary celebration. Over the years, GS1 Hong Kong has assisted a wide range of local industries, from retail and consumer goods to healthcare, logistics and many more, in enhancing their competitiveness by adopting global supply chain standards. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to GS1 Hong Kong for its contribution and wish the Forum every success.

Thank you.

Ends