ENG-2011 — Page 151

Commerce and Industry ■ 111

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.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Hong Kong is an observer on the Trade Committee and the Committee on Financial Markets of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), important discussion forums for policy matters in respect of trade and financial services.

Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements

The Government is committed to the primacy of the multilateral trading system under the WTO. That notwithstanding, in response to new trends in world trade the Government has been seeking to enter into more economic and trade arrangements with trading partners so long as they are in Hong Kong's interests, consistent with WTO provisions, contributive to multilateral trade liberalisation, and can allow more favourable access to overseas markets for Hong Kong goods and services. Hong Kong signed the Hong Kong-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, the first free trade agreement with a foreign economy. The Agreement has come into force since January 2011. In June 2011, Hong Kong signed another free trade agreement with the Members States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (namely, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), the first one with the European economies. Following several exploratory talks with Chile, Hong Kong will commence negotiation with Chile on a free trade agreement in early 2012. The Government will continue to pursue trade agreements with other trading partners in Hong Kong's interests.

Liaison with the Mainland and the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)

The Mainland's rapid economic and trade growth has helped boost Hong Kong's external trade and intermediary services, and has facilitated economic and trade co-operation and integration between the two places. The Mainland and Hong Kong signed CEPA in June 2003 to promote the liberalisation of trade in goods and services, and to facilitate trade and investment between them. The two sides concluded a number of supplements to broaden the coverage of CEPA and to deepen the liberalisation measures in different service areas. The latest of these, Supplement VIII, was signed in December 2011.

Since January 1, 2006, the Mainland has applied zero tariff to all imported goods of Hong Kong origin that meet the agreed CEPA rules of origin (ROOS). As at the end of 2011, the CEPA ROOS for a cumulative total of some 1 730 products had been agreed. For trade in services, 301 liberalisation and facilitation measures have