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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, today (November 17) held bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Singapore, the President of Vietnam and the Prime Minister of Australia separately in Busan, Korea, ahead of the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting that is scheduled to start tomorrow.
During the cordial and friendly meetings, the Chief Executive briefed his counterparts on Hong Kong's preparations for the Sixth Ministerial Conference (MC6) of the World Trade Organization to be held next month (December). He looked forward to joining with APEC leaders to inject strong political impetus to move forward the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.
"I am pleased that APEC economic leaders will be issuing a statement on the DDA negotiations. I hope this will contribute to the final preparatory work for forging a meaningful outcome of the MC6 meeting in Hong Kong," Mr Tsang noted.
On the recent outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry across Asia and Europe, Mr Tsang said that Hong Kong had put in place a comprehensive preventive and surveillance programme to reduce the risk of such outbreaks in Hong Kong.
"International and regional collaboration is important in combating the spread of the disease. We look forward to having closer liaison and exchanges with the international community in the battle against avian influenza, especially in tackling the potential hazard that the disease can pose to public health," Mr Tsang added.
The Chief Executive met the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, in the morning. They agreed that Hong Kong and Singapore were important investment and trade partners. Being two prominent centres for trade, finance and business services in East Asia, they looked forward to continuing co-operation between Hong Kong and Singapore in regional economic, financial and trade initiatives. They also agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in various areas and at different levels, as well as to pay more mutual visits.
The Chief Executive and the President of Vietnam, Mr Tran Duc Luong, discussed in detail the various measures taken by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Vietnamese governments to safeguard public health in the light of recent avian flu outbreaks in Asia and Europe. They agreed that protection of public health had been and would continue to be the governments' top priority.
The 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Vietnam in 2006. "Under your leadership and the hard work of your team, I have every confidence that we will have a very successful meeting next year. I look forward to joining efforts with Vietnam as well as other member economies to make concrete progress in 2006 and the years ahead," Mr Tsang told the President.
In the afternoon, the Chief Executive explained to the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, the vast business opportunities brought about by Pearl River Delta co-operation. The Chief Executive also elaborated on the international and local efforts that Hong Kong has taken to prevent a local outbreak of avian flu.
Both Mr Tsang and Mr Howard were pleased with the strong ties between Hong Kong and Australia, which had been developed over a long period of time.
"Hong Kong and Australia have strong links in culture, tourism, and professional areas including medicine, accounting, law and engineering. We also have a very solid trade and investment relationship across a wide spectrum of sectors," Mr Tsang noted.
After the bilateral meetings with the economic leaders, the Chief Executive attended the APEC CEO Summit at which President Hu Jintao delivered a keynote speech.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Executive received a courtesy call from the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, Mr Hur Nam Sik.
Tomorrow, the Chief Executive will have breakfast with President Hu. He will join the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the afternoon.
Ends/Thursday, November 17, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:05
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