ENG-2002 — Page 171

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Established in 1900, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce has over 6000 members. Services provided include issuing certificates of origin, providing Electronic Trading Access Service, organising trade delegations, and promoting business information exchange. The chamber maintains close contacts with trade organisations in the Mainland and world-wide.

Standards and Conformance Services

The Innovation and Technology Commission's services in the areas of metrology, documentary standards and accreditation provide the technical foundation for Hong Kong's standards and conformance infrastructure.

The Standards and Calibration Laboratory (SCL) is the official custodian of Hong Kong's physical measurement standards. It provides a comprehensive calibration. service traceable to the International System of Units (SI). The SCL is a signatory to the Global Mutual Recognition Arrangement for National Measurement Institutes and its services are internationally recognised and accepted.

The Product Standards Information Bureau (PSIB) offers a comprehensive range of standards information services. Apart from its reference standards library which is open to the public, the PSIB also provides a free advisory service on standards, and a standards sales service. It is the Enquiry Point and Notification Authority for Hong Kong under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The PSIB also coordinates Hong Kong's input to APEC on standards and conformance matters.

The Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS) provides a comprehensive range of accreditation services for conformity assessment bodies including testing and calibration laboratories, certification and inspection bodies. The HKAS is a signatory to the Mutual Recognition Arrangements of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation. It has also concluded a bilateral Mutual Recognition Arrangement with the multilateral agreement group of the European Cooperation for Accreditation. As a result of these arrangements, the test and calibration reports issued by HKAS- accredited laboratories are recognised by 42 other accreditation bodies world-wide.

Human Resources, Technical Education and Industrial Training

Success in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century depends heavily upon the availability of talent and skilled manpower at all levels.

Higher-level education and training are provided by the tertiary education. institutions. The Vocational Training Council (VTC) provides technical education and industrial training. In addition, it administers the New Technology Training Scheme. which provides financial assistance to employers for training their staff in new technologies and those technologies that are not yet widely applied locally but the application of which will significantly benefit Hong Kong. The Clothing Industry Training Authority (CITA) runs two training centres for the clothing and footwear industries. The Trade and Industry Department is represented on the VTC and the CITA whereas the ITC is represented on the VTC committees concerned with the New Technology Training Scheme.

The implementation of the Admission of Talents Scheme is aimed at attracting talented persons with expertise not readily available locally and who are able to contribute to the competitiveness of Hong Kong, particularly in knowledge-intensive and high value-added activities. The Government also implements the Admission of

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