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THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1993
SIDES
THE MEETINGS WERE SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED ON SCHEDULE, AND BOTH WILL SUBMIT THE REPORT FROM THE MEETINGS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS, SEEKING BARLIEST POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS SET DOWN THEREIN.
TO
SECRETARY FOR WORKS, MR JAMES BLAKE, EXPRESSED APPRECIATION DIRECTOR GUAN ZONGZHI FOR THE CONTINUED ATTENTION BY GUANGDONG BUREAU IN MEETING THE WATER NEEDS OF HONG KONG.
STI WELCOMES TARIFF REDUCTION PACKAGE
* * * * *
THE SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, MR CHAU TAK-HAY, (THURSDAY) WELCOMED THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT TRADE MINISTERS GROUP OF SEVEN HAVE TENTATIVELY AGREED ON A TARIFF REDUCTION IN TOKYO.
"THIS IS THE MOST POSITIVE NEWS WE HAVE HAD FOR A MR CHAU SAID.
TODAY OF THE PACKAGE
LONG TIME,
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ALL OF THE DETAILS ARE
"I WELCOME THE ANNOUNCEMENT. 1 NOTE THAT NOT OUTSTANDING ISSUES HAVE BEEN AGREED AND THAT SOME OF THE MISSING, BUT I HOPE THAT THIS PACKAGE WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS TO GET UNDER WAY AGAIN IN GENEVA,
"
HE SAID.
ER CHAU EXPRESSED CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ON THE PROSPECTS FOR CONCLUDING THE URUGUAY ROUND BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
"PROGRESS IN THE URUGUAY ROUND HAS BERN STALLED FOR OVER A YEAR-AND-A-HALF BECAUSE OF SERIOUS DISAGREEMENT AMONGST THE MAJOR ECONOMIES. IT APPEARS THEY HAVE REACHED A BROAD AGREEMENT ON LOWERING TARIFFS.
"PROVIDED THEY AND THE OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THE URUGUAY ROUND CAN REACH AGREEMENT ON SERVICES AND AGRICULTURE, IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO CONCLUDE THE ROUND BY MID-DECEMBER, HE SAID.
MR CHAU NOTED THAT HONG KONG PLAYED AN ACTIVE PART IN THE URUGUAY ROUND NEGOTIATIONS AS A SEPARATE CONTRACTING PARTY ΤΟ THE GATT.
"HONG KONG LOOKS FORWARD TO PLAYING ITS PART IN RESOLVING THE OUTSTANDING ISSUES IN GENEVA. IN OUR VIEW WORK SHOULD NOW FOCUS ON THE REMAINING MARKET ACCESS ISSUES, RATHER THAN ATTEMPTING TO FIDDLE WITH THE REST OF THE DRAFT FINAL AGREEMENT WHICH WAS WORKED OUT IN GENEVA AT THE END OF 1991, HE SAID.
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