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Following is a transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, speaking to the media after attending the InterCham luncheon today (December 8):
Reporter: You donˇ¦t think that it is going to be a failure like Cancun and Seattle. What stakes would you be looking for so far...
SCIT: The nature of this type of trade negotiation is that everything would come down to the wire. You are not going to see some preliminary agreements on something before something else is agreed. So I think what we are aiming to do, what I am trying to do is to start off an informal process early on in the week so that members will be able to start talking about the relevant issues in some of the specific areas. And then if necessary, I will bring some of these things in a cross-cutting way, bring them together towards the middle of the week. And then maybe from there, we can see a shape of some kind of trade-off. And if we can see a shape of a trade-off, I think we are much nearer to the final phase of the negotiations.
Reporter: You mention about trade-off. Does that mean that rich countries are looking for poor countries to give them something back? ˇK Is that going to be some Industrial verses the Agricultural?
SCIT: It would not really hit some of the least developed countries because a lot of them will basically get the Round for free. What we are talking about is some of the more advanced countries, such as the EU, what they are asking for is for some of the more advanced developing economies, such as Brazil and India, for them to open up a bit more in terms of Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), in terms of services before the EU would move on to Agriculture. I think it is that kind of a trade-off, more than a North-South type of trade-off.
Reporter: One of the newest WTO member, China, has been comparatively quiet over the past couple of months over the progress of these trade talks. What do you foresee Chinaˇ¦s role in next weekˇ¦s Ministerial Conference?
SCIT: They have been playing quite an active role. But they have been playing that role in the company of the G20. And the G20 has been a pretty active demandeur in terms of agriculture opening for the European Union. And in fact since the establishment of the G20 last year, they have more or less taken that middle position, the middle ground in a lot of the negotiations. And they have been extremely helpful in defining that compromised position right in the middle.
Reporter: When the fast track authority expires, how that would impact the negotiation position of the US and the EU? What exactly the problem there?
SCIT: It brings in a sense of urgency. If we do not finish the Round by the end of 2006, then whatever agreement sent to the US Congress for approval, they would have the right to tinker with it. Nobody would be willing to allow that to happen. That means there is much greater urgency that we have to finish everything by 2006. Otherwise, that situation will arise. So it helps and it does not help.
Reporter: Would the fast track mean the President of the United States is able to push through any agreement?
SCIT: He will push through and the Congress can only vote up or down.
Reporter: I wonder if you could give a clearer picture of what exactly are the goals of MC6 because what we have heard so far are extremely vague, substantial progress as said in your speech, a credible outcome which can mean almost anything. Can you give us a more tangible, you know that full modalities are out of the window, two-thirds are out of the window. So what exactly will we get at the end of next week?
SCIT: MC6 is part of the process. What we have always been saying is that Hong Kong would not be the conclusion of the Round. And how far can we move ahead is up to the members. This is a member-driven organisation. And we operate on a consensus basis. Whatever far we move ahead is up to the members. It is for them to decide how they want to do that. So it is not for me to set an objective for how far we want to move. We provide the platform. We provide an atmosphere. We provide a place where the negotiations can take place. And we will try to facilitate that, move it forward as much as we can. But it is definitely not for me to set how far that we need to move forward. It is up to the members. And I would urge the ministers who will be coming in the next few days to exercise their flexibility, to exercise their leadership, and to exercise their commitment to the Round, and make it a success.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, December 8, 2005
Issued at HKT 18:17
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