ENG-2010 — Page 144

102 Commerce and Industry

The offices in Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto are responsible for bilateral economic and trade relations in their host countries. In addition, the Sydney office covers New Zealand and the Tokyo office covers the Republic of Korea. The Singapore office looks after Hong Kong's economic and trade relations with the member states of ASEAN.

External Commercial Relations

Hong Kong's Participation in the World Trade Organisation

Hong Kong is a founding member of the WTO and has continued its separate membership in the WTO since July 1, 1997 under the name of 'Hong Kong, China'. The objective of Hong Kong's participation in the WTO is to sustain the momentum of trade liberalisation, and to strengthen the multilateral rules-based trading system.

The HKSAR participates actively in the current round of multilateral trade negotiations launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 (the Doha Round), mainly to seek greater market access for its services sectors and industrial goods.

Regional Economic Co-operation

Hong Kong continues to play an active role in enhancing regional economic co-operation. It participates as a full and separate member in Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), a regional forum for high-level dialogue and co-operation on trade and economic issues, under the name of 'Hong Kong, China'. In November 2010, the Chief Executive represented Hong Kong at the 18th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Yokohama, Japan. The meeting was preceded by the 22nd APEC Ministerial Meeting, where Hong Kong was represented by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. In 2010, some 84 per cent of Hong Kong's external trade was conducted with the other 20 member economies of APEC.

APEC pursues the goal of free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialised economies and 2020 for developing economies through work in trade and investment liberalisation, business facilitation, and economic and technical co-operation. In 2010, APEC assessed the progress towards achieving this goal of the five industrialised member economies and eight volunteering developing member economies, including Hong Kong. The conclusion was that while significant progress had been made, more work remains to be done. Despite the collective assessment, due recognition was given to Hong Kong's tariff-free treatment for all imports, open services market, and liberal investment regime.

The Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (PECC) is a non-governmental regional forum comprising government officials, business leaders and academics. It works on policy issues to enhance trade, investment and economic development in the Pacific region. The Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Co-operation, which advises on and co-ordinates HKSAR's participation in the PECC process, continues to play an active role in PECC's activities.