*************************************
The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, urged the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies to renew their resolve to reach the Bogor Goals soon, which they set 16 years ago to further trade and investment liberalisation. Whilst significant progress has been made towards achieving the Bogor Goals, more need to be done.
Speaking on the last day of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Yokohama, Japan today (November 14), Mr Tsang noted that most economies had not eliminated all tariffs and that there were still restrictions on trade in services and investment.
"As Economic Leaders, we should honestly say there is still unfinished business. We should finish it soon," Mr Tsang said. He also emphasised that Hong Kong had always been an advocate of free trade.
On the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, he said that any template towards that, for example, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, should be of high quality and not create any restrictions. It should not undermine the multilateral trading system and should complement APEC's work to pursue free and open trade and investment.
The Chief Executive also urged APEC members to work together with their World Trade Organization (WTO) counterparts for a prompt conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda under WTO, and to resist protectionism.
Ends/Sunday, November 14, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:05
NNNN
