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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, arrived in Busan, Korea, tonight (November 16, Busan time) to attend the 13th Economic Leadersˇ¦ Meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) on Friday and Saturday (November 18 and 19).
Mr Tsang said he is particularly pleased to attend the APEC meeting this year because 2005 is an important year for APEC.
ˇ§Member economies made their pledge in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994 to reach free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialised economies and by 2020 for developing economies. Since then, members have worked hard towards these goals,ˇ¨ he said.
ˇ§Ten years have passed and a mid-term stock-take exercise just took place earlier this year. The findings have revealed that member economies are making good progress in the right direction. A roadmap is being drawn to identify further actions and expedite our endeavors towards its accomplishment.ˇ¨
Mr Tsang said one of the building blocks to the Bogor Goals would be a satisfactory outcome from the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.
ˇ§As Hong Kong will host the WTO Sixth Ministerial Conference (MC6) in December this year, we are keen to see the DDA negotiations moving forward. The APEC Economic Leadersˇ¦ Meeting this year will provide a good opportunity for leaders to inject strong political impetus to bring about a forward looking and balanced outcome at MC6. This would pave the way to a successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade negotiations in 2006.ˇ¨
Noting that the unprecedented recent outbreaks in avian influenza in poultry across Europe and Asia and human infections in the region had aroused great concern, Mr Tsang said he believed that strengthened co-operation through the collective measures of APEC would greatly enhance the regional preparedness for and capability to combat the disease.
During his four-day stay in Busan, Mr Tsang will hold bilateral meetings with other economic leaders. Tomorrow (November 17), he will attend the APEC CEO Summit at which President Hu Jintao will deliver a keynote speech.
Mr Tsang will join other economic leaders at the APEC Economic Leadersˇ¦ Meeting on Friday and Saturday (November 18 and 19) to discuss a wide range of issues, including WTO DDA negotiations, the proliferation of regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements, and strengthening global co-operation in health security, counter-terrorism, energy security and anti-corruption.
Ends/Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:50
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