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Mr President,
In managing Hong Kong's external commercial relations, the Government's focus has been put on the multilateral front through the World Trade Organisation and the regional front through the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation. Hong Kong's active participation and where appropriate, negotiations, in these organisations have enabled us to secure and further Hong Kong's commercial and economic interests.
On the bilateral front, the Government has concentrated on negotiating agreements in the two specific areas of air services and investment promotion & protection. The Government has so far accorded a low priority to concluding bilateral trade and co-operation agreements because being more general in nature, they are seen to be offering less tangible benefits than specifically targeted agreements. However, I am pleased to inform this Council that the Government has recently started to look into the merits and implications of negotiating and concluding a general agreement on trade and co-operation with the European Union. I shall be happy to inform and consult the LegCo Trade and Industry Panel on the progress and outcome of our deliberations.
End
Supplementary Labour Scheme
Following is a question by the Hon James Tien Pei-chun and a reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph Wong, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Information from the Census and Statistics Department indicates that under the Supplementary Labour Scheme introduced on 1 February this year, the minimum wages for various types of jobs have risen as compared to those for similar types of jobs under the former General Labour Importation Scheme. As a result, some employers in the industrial and commercial sectors cannot afford employing imported labour even though they are unable to recruit local employees. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of: