The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, had a breakfast meeting this morning (December 10) with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Dr Okonjo-Iweala had visited the Mainland to attend the seventh "1+6" Roundtable on December 8 and 9, and transited via Hong Kong today.
      
     During the meeting with Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Mr Chan expressed his warmest congratulations to the successful conclusion of the seventh "1+6" Roudtable. He said that the Roundtable had made valuable contributions to building an open world economy and boosting global economic recovery and growth. Mr Chan also congrauted Dr Okonjo-Iweala on securing multilaterally-negotiated outcomes at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference in June this year.
      
     Mr Chan said that while the global economy is weathering various challenges, Hong Kong, China (HKC), as a founding member of the WTO, has for years been a firm supporter of a rules-based multilateral trading system with WTO at the core. HKC has been actively promoting and forging free trade. Mr Chan pointed out that HKC supports the reform of the WTO in the right direction, including the restoration of a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system as soon as possible.
      
     Mr Chan also explained to Dr Okonjo-Iweala the latest economic and trade developments in Hong Kong, and that Hong Kong is stepping towards normalcy. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will further deepen its role as an international financial centre, trading centre, aviation hub, shipping centre, etc., thus making more and greater contributions to forging a better connections between the country and the world, as well as promoting common and inclusive development. 

Ends/Saturday, December 10, 2022
Issued at HKT 13:56

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