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The negotiations on basic telecommunications services is one of the four extended tracks of negotiations required by the Uruguay Round. The other three sectors are Maritime Transportation, Financial Services and Movement of Natural Persons.
The negotiation deadline for Maritime Transportation is June this year. An interim agreement on Financial Services was reached last year and the negotiation on Movement of Natural Persons was also successfully concluded last year.
Speaking before his departure, Mr Tam said: "Liberalisation of basic telecommunications services is important since it is a significant service sector in its own right and at the same time it provides the basic infrastructure for other service sectors to flourish."
Mr Tam noted that all major parties in the negotiations had worked very hard in an attempt to achieve a satisfactory outcome.
"However, there is still a lot of grounds to cover. Hong Kong will play its part in an effort to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion," he added.
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DHA to attend conference in New York
The Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Shelley Lau, departed for New York, USA, this (Tuesday) afternoon to attend the International Conference on Policy for Science- based Development organised by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS).
Mrs Lau is attending the conference in the capacity of International Council Member of the NYAS. She was appointed to the Council two years ago following her work in the Health and Welfare Branch in establishing a policy on traditional Chinese medicine.
Prior to the conference, she will deliver a speech on "Science and Technology in Hong Kong beyond 1997: Emerging Trends and Issues" at a luncheon meeting of the New York Science Policy Association tomorrow (Wednesday).
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