Seminar on "Free Trade and Globalisation - The Hong Kong Experience in Retrospect and the Prospects" held successfully (with photos)
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     A full-day seminar on "Free Trade and Globalisation - The Hong Kong Experience in Retrospect and the Prospects" organised by the Trade and Industry Department was held successfully today (December 1). 

     The seminar provided an opportunity for the Government, the business community and academia to review the progress and achievements of Hong Kong in promoting free trade and regional economic integration in the past two decades, and to explore the challenges and opportunities ahead. The seminar was organised in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

     In his opening speech, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, shared with the participants Hong Kong's efforts in promoting free trade and regional economic integration in the bilateral, regional and multilateral contexts, and his views on the challenges and opportunities ahead.

     "Hong Kong will stand firm in our belief that the multilateral trading system under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides the most effective safeguard against protectionism and that free trade and globalisation remain a driving force behind economic growth," Mr Yau said.

     At the seminar, international and local experts in business and academic sectors shared their insights on the themes on globalisation and regional integration from the Asian and Hong Kong perspectives. They included the Ralph and Claire Landau Professor of Economics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Professor Lawrence Lau; the Principal Strategy Officer of the Strategy, Policy & Budget Department of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Mr Najeeb Haider; the Secretary General of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, Mr Eduardo Pedrosa; the Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong and Hong Kong, China's representative to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC HKC), Dr Jonathan Choi; Director of Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited and ABAC HKC representative Mr Anthony Nightingale; and Director of the AsiaGlobal Fellows Program of the Asia Global Institute of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and former Chief Economist of the World Trade Organization Dr Patrick Low.
 
     The Pro-Vice-Chancellor of CUHK and Co-Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS), Professor Fanny Cheung, delivered opening remarks, while the Associate Director of the Economic Research Centre of HKIAPS of CUHK, Professor Sung Yun-wing, and the Chair of Economics of HKU, Professor Richard Wong, served as the moderators of the two thematic discussions respectively.
 
     The seminar was co-organised by the ABAC HKC and the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, with the HKIAPS of CUHK as the supporting organisation.

Ends/Friday, December 1, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:16

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