XN000022-1995-09-21 — Page 14

13 -

More input from private sector urged for govt's work on APEC

A senior Trade Department official today (Thursday) called on the private business sector to provide more input to help ensure that the Government's work in the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum would better meet the needs and aspiration of the community.

"Our work will be totally futile and irrelevant if it brings no benefits to the private sector," said Assistant Director-General of Trade, Mrs Rebecca Lai, while addressing a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Kowloon.

"For example, professionals and manufacturers would no doubt have come across problems arising from different quality and product standards and changing rules of origin administered by various authorities," she said.

"What APEC has started as a first step is to work towards mutual recognition and later harmonisation of these standards and rules will hopefully remove the uncertainty and hustle."

Mrs Lai said toys and food products were among the first pilot sectors being examined by APEC experts and also a tariff database on CD ROM on all 18 APEC member economies had already been produced.

"An examination of competitive policy and anti-dumping practice we hope will eventually lead to a more competitive environment and the removal of distorting and harassing tools such as anti-dumping," she added.

To ensure that all this work was relevant to the business sector, Mrs Lai strongly urged businessmen and professionals to make their views known to the Government through all available channels such as chambers of commerce and professional associations.

"We also consult the Trade Advisory Board regularly on our work in APEC and encourage individual participation at various APEC fora on trade promotion. transportation, telecommunications, infrastructure development, etc." she said.

Mrs Lai said during 1995, senior officials of APEC had held a series of meetings working diligently on an action agenda on how free trade goal could be achieved.

*