XN000022-1994-10-22+23 — Page 7

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1994

APEC MINISTERIAL MEETING ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

*

* *

AND WAS

THE FIRST ASIA-PACIFIC ECOMONIC CO-OPERATION (APEC) SMALL MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SME) MINISTERIAL MEETING HELD IN OSAKA, JAPAN, CONCLUDED TODAY (SUNDAY), THE SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, MR TH CHAU, REPRESENTED HONG KONG AT THE MEETING.

AND IN

MR CHAU EXPLAINED TO MINISTERS FROM THE OTHER 16 APEC ECONOMIES THAT HONG KONG OWED MUCH OF ITS ECONOMIC SUCCESS TO THE DYNAMISM AGILITY OF SNES WHICH CONSTITUTED THE VAST MAJORITY OF HONG KONG,

COMPANIES

IN HONG KONG WAS MR CHAU STRESSED THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BEST SERVED BY ALLOWING THE MARKET TO DETERMINE WHERE RESOURCES SHOULD FLOW. HONG KONG THEREFORE DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE EITHER FOR OR SMES.

AGAINST

MINISTERIAL "TO CREATE AN ALL TYPES OF

MR CHAU MADE IT CLEAR TO ALL THE DELEGATES OF THE MEETING THAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT'S POLICY WAS

·ENVIRONMENT ENTERPRISE,

WHICH

IS

CONDUCIVE

TO

THE

WHETHER SMALL, MEDIUM OR LARGE.

GROWTH

OF

TAX

"THE GOVERNMENT DOES THIS THROUGH A SIMPLE, STABLE AND LOW

ADMINISTRATIVE REGIME, AS WELL AS A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES WITH MINIMUM RED-TAPE," MR CHAN SAID.

r

"THE

SECTOR TO

GOVERNMENT ALSO WORKS CLOSELY WITH THE PRIVATE ENSURE THE PROVISION OF AN EFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR BUSINESS OTHER ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES.

AND

OF

"IN AN ECONOMY AS OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL COMPETITON AS THAT

MEET THE HONG KONG, THERE ARE BOUND TO BE ENTERPRISES WHICH FAIL TO

CHANGES IN THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE, OR ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY

ENVIRONMENT WHETHER IN HONG KONG OR OUTSIDE.

"IN THE WIDER

INTERESTS

OF THE

COMMUNITY,

THE

HONG KONG

GOVERNMENT BELIEVES THAT UNSUCCESSFUL FIRMS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FAIL, SO THAT THEIR RESOURCES CAN BE EMPLOYED MORE PROFITABLY ELSEWHERE.

AS RESILIENT BOTH THE RISKS NATURAL FEATURES OF

"THIS POLICY HAS CONTRIBUTED TO A ROBUST AS WELL

·CULTURE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN HONG KONG, IN WHICH AND THE REWARDS OF ENTERPRISE ARE RECOGNISED AS BUSINESS LIFE.

"

APEC MINISTERIAL JOINT CONSISTENT INCLUDING

MR CHAU ASSOCIATED HIMSELF WITH THE STATEMENT

SMES ON

ENDORSES VARIOUS GATT/WTO WHICH INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS THE GREATEST HANDICAPS FACED BY SMES, HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT, ACCESS TO INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY SHARING, THE AVAILABILITY OF FINANCE AND

TECHNOLOGY AND MARKET ACCESS.

STUDIES

THE GLOBAL AN AD HOC

COMMISSIONING OF IN-DEPTH MINISTERS RECOMMENDED THE WHICH WILL HELP TO ENHANCE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMES IN ENVIRONMENT. MINISTERS ALSO ENDORSED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICY-LEVEL GROUP ON SMES WITHIN THE APEC FRAMEWORK.

JAPAN, MR DAVID THE PRINCIPAL REPRESENTATIVE OF HONG KONG IN

INDUSTRY, MISS DENISE YUE, H T LAN, AND THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF

THE APEC SME MINISTERIAL MEMBERS OF THE HONG KONG DELEGATION AT MEETING.

WERE

/A PRIVATE