ENG-2005 — Page 151

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participates as a full and separate member in APEC and PECC under the name of Hong Kong, China.

APEC is a regional forum for high-level government-to-government dialogue and cooperation on trade and economic issues. Republic of Korea, as the APEC Chair for 2005, set the overall theme as 'Towards One Community: Meet the Challenge, Make the Change'. In November, the Chief Executive represented Hong Kong at the 13th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Busan. The meeting was preceded by the 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting, where Hong Kong was represented by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology.

APEC pursues its goal of free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialised economies and 2020 for developing economies through work in three areas trade and investment liberalisation, trade and investment facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation. Hong Kong participates actively in all three. It has been a Vice-Chair of APEC's Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) since 1996.

PECC is a non-governmental regional forum comprising government officials, business leaders and academics who work in their personal capacity on practical policy issues to enhance trade, investment and economic development in the Pacific region. The Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, which advises on and coordinates the HKSAR's participation in and input to the PECC process, continues to play an active role in PECC's various forums, task forces and project groups.

Observer Role in the OECD

Hong Kong is an observer on the Trade Committee and the Committee on Financial Markets of the Paris-based OECD, which are important forums for discussions on policy matters in respect of trade and financial services. Ideas introduced in these committees are often followed up in other international organisations such as the WTO and eventually translated into binding multilateral agreements or codes.

Regional Trade Agreements

The Government remains, as always, committed to the primacy of the multilateral trading system under the WTO. That notwithstanding, the Government is open-minded about exploring free trade agreements (FTAs) with trading partners so long as they are in Hong Kong's interests, consistent with WTO provisions and contribute to multilateral trade liberalisation.

Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement

The Central People's Government (CPG) and the HKSAR Government agreed on the third phase of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA III) on October 18, 2005.

Under CEPA III, the Mainland agreed to give all products of Hong Kong origin. tariff-free treatment starting from January 1, 2006, upon application by local manufacturers and upon the CEPA rules of origin being agreed and met. On the basis