TNAG-2241-FCO40-3222-Asia-Pacific-Economic-Cooperation-(APEC)-1991 — Page 51

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Muz 2012

KERD to

Carmer

110352

MDLIAN 7445

(T5

UNCLASSIFIED

FM HONG KONG

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELNO 2309

OF 200037Z JULY 91

INFO PRIORITY SEOUL

SEOUL TELNO 377: APEC/HONG KONG

འབནཔོ

TOP COPY Q DIST?

1. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND FACTS, DRAWN TOGETHER FOR THE SAKE OF COMPLETENESS:

(A) APEC IS A NON-FORMAL FORUM FOR CONSULTATIONS AMONG HIGH-LEVEL REPRESENTATIVES OF ECONOMIES WITH STRONG LINKAGES IN THE ASIA

PACIFIC REGION,

(B) AT THE LAST APEC MINISTERIAL LEVEL MEETING HELD IN SINGAPORE IN JULY 1990 MINISTERS REAFFIRMED THE VIEW THAT IT WAS DESIRABLE FOR THE THREE ECONOMIES OF CHINA, TAIWAN AND HONG KONG TO PARTICIPATE IN FUTURE MEETINGS,

(C) AT SINGAPORE, MINISTERS ALSO AGREED THAT CONSULTATIONS SHOULD PROCEED WITH THE THREE ECONOMIES WITH A VIEW TO ENABLING ALL THREE TO PARTICIPATE IN APEC AT THE SAME TIME, EITHER AT THE SEOUL MEETING IN OCTOBER 1991 OR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THEREAFTER,

(D) THE AIMS OF APEC ARE ALL ECONOMIC OR TRADE ORIENTED. THEY ARE, ESSENTIALLY, TO STRENGTHEN THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM, TO ASSESS PROSPECTS FOR TRADE AND INVESTMENT WITHIN THE REGION AND TO CONSIDER ISSUES OF COMMON ECONOMIC INTEREST,

(E) HONG KONG IS A SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM. IT ENJOYS FULL AUTONOMY IN THE CONDUCT OF ITS EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS AND IS A SEPARATE CONTRACTING PARTY TO THE GATT,

(F) UNDER THE TERMS OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE, THE CURRENT COMMERCIAL AUTONOMY WILL CONTINUE IN 1997 AND BEYOND. USING THE NAME HONG KONG, CHINA' HONG KONG WILL CONTINUE TO BE A SEPARATE GATT MEMBER AND TO PARTICIPATE IN OTHER RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS,

(G) AS A MAJOR REGIONAL ECONOMY AND A SIGNIFICANT GATT

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