XN000022-1995-09-21 — Page 15

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She said the Action Agenda would contain three pillars of APEC work trade and investment liberalisation, facilitation, and co-operation.

"It will set out the general principles under which liberalisation and facilitation should take place. Having done this, the Action Agenda will also spell out specific areas in which liberalisation and facilitation need to be pursued," she said.

"Most prominent of course is the reduction and eventual elimination of all tariffs. Equally important is the removal of non-tariff barriers, deregulations, liberalisation of the service sectors, harmonisation of standards, simplification of customs procedures, production of a competitive environment open to all players and

so on."

Under each of these areas where APEC members were able to arrive at consensus on collective actions, Mrs Lai said these actions would be clearly spelt out in terms of short, medium and long-term targets.

"Where actions require individual member economies to remove tariff and non- tariff barriers or to deregulate certain parts of their economies, guidelines will be included in the Action Agenda for member economies to draw up their respective individual action plans for presentation to Ministers at the Manila Ministerial Meeting in late 1996."

Mrs Lai dispelled the myth that APEC was "a party of extravagant celebration", and said she saw the acronym APEC as standing for "a place to explore commonality". "a place to establish consensus" and "a place to enhance co-operation".

However, she cautioned that APEC, or World Trade Organisation, or indeed any multilateral talks, were no panacea to trade barriers and trade wars.

"Protectionism is still around. Pressure is high on politicians of other member economies from their different constituencies to adopt various trade harassments and distortion measures. Each member economy has its own domestic problems and sensitive sectors to deal with," she said.

"What Hong Kong should continue to do is to endeavour to keep government away from our businessmen. Our job as government should rather be to fight for a competitive environment for Hong Kong, and in the Asian Pacific Region and beyond."

End/Thursday, September 21, 1995