********************************************************
The Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, left for Hong Kong today (December 3) after a whirlwind round of meetings with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Mr Pascal Lamy and leading ministers, ambassadors and officials in Brussels and Geneva.
He will arrive back in Hong Kong tomorrow (December 4) when he will address a meeting of the Federation of Hong Kong and Guangdong Community Organisations that will be attended by more than 2000 participants.
Mr Tsang's visit to Brussels and Geneva was his last overseas engagement prior to the Opening of the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference at the Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 13. The conference will close on December 18.
The key engagement of Mr Tsang's visit to Geneva was his address to the WTO General Council at its last meeting before the Hong Kong Ministerial.
Addressing the Council, he urged the WTO's 148 members to show the global vision and individual courage required to make the Hong Kong Ministerial a success.
Before arriving in Geneva, Mr Tsang spent a day in Brussels, attending a meeting of the G90 group of developing and least developed countries, where he reiterated his commitment to pushing for a significant development package at the Hong Kong Ministerial. He also had bilateral discussions with a number of the Group's Ministers.
In Geneva, he had a wide range of meetings with a cross-section of trade ministers and ambassadors, including the USTR, Mr Rob Portman, the Indian Trade Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, the Japanese Trade Minister, Mr Toshihiro Nikai and the Agriculture Minister, Mr Shoichi Nagakawa.
He also had separate meetings with Mr Lamy, as well as the Chairmen of the WTO negotiating groups, and the co-ordinators of the different groupings and coalitions within the WTO membership. Mr Tsang also met the Director General of Oxfam, Mr Jeremy Hobbs, as part of his ongoing liaison with non-government organisations. About 2000 NGO delegates will attend the Hong Kong Ministerial.
Mr Tsang said before he left for Hong Kong that his visit to Brussels and Geneva had been very useful in meeting so many senior participants who would play important roles in the Hong Kong Ministerial.
ˇ§We will have serious negotiations on core issues that will take place in Hong Kong,ˇ¨ he said.
ˇ§I was able to assure all the WTO Members that as host and Chairman of the Hong Kong Ministerial, their interests will be taken into account.ˇ¨
ˇ§My intention is to run an inclusive, transparent Ministerial. The WTO is a consensual, member-driven organisation. And it is important that all Members, large and small, are involved in and contribute to the process.ˇ¨
ˇ§The ingredients are now in place for a successful conference. The task now is to take those ingredients and produce a quality outcome to the conference so that we can go on to conclude the Doha Development Agenda Round by end of 2006.ˇ¨
Ends/Saturday, December 3, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:01
NNNN
