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New chapter in US-HK aviation relationship
The aviation relationship between Hong Kong and the United States entered an important and exciting new phase today (Friday) with the confirmation of the initialled draft Air Services Agreement text between the Government of Hong Kong and the Government of the United States of America.
Officiating at a ceremony to mark the occasion were the Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Gordon Siu, and the US Secretary of Transportation, Mr Federico Pena.
Mr Siu noted that there had been significant developments in air traffic between Hong Kong and the United States since 1937.
"And the US has become Hong Kong's largest overseas trading partner. It is also the second largest source of foreign investment in Hong Kong.
"The security of air links after 1997 is vital to the maintenance of this position, and in that respect to the maintenance of our own prosperity.
"The draft agreement therefore carries implications which reach far beyond the air services sector," he said.
Mr Siu added that within the next few months Hong Kong intended to initial agreements with Japan and the Philippines.
"By 1997, we shall have in place a network of at least 20 agreements covering all our significant aviation partners and providing a stable legal and regulatory platform for the development of our airlines, as Asia's finest, into the next century," he said.
He noted that the draft US-HK Air Services Agreement text, when cleared by the Joint Liaison Group, would ensure the continuation of air links between the US and Hong Kong through and beyond the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.
"It represents an important vote of confidence in Hong Kong's future, and in particular in the civil aviation autonomy granted to us under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.