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The Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph W P Wong, will leave for Davos, Switzerland, today (January 26) to attend the first World Trade Organization informal ministerial meeting (IMM) after the successful conclusion of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference (HKMC).
With the aim of concluding the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) by the end of 2006, ministers attending the meeting will follow up on the agreements made in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration which was adopted on December 18, 2005 at the HKMC.
Acknowledging that much remained to be done in order to establish full modalities and conclude the negotiations, ministers agreed at the HKMC to intensify work on all outstanding issues to fulfill the Doha objectives.
In particular, ministers will work to meet the target date of end April to unlock the shackles of agriculture and the issues relating to industrial tariffs. They will also discuss on the services negotiations as well as other major negotiating areas under the DDA.
The informal ministerial meeting on January 27 and 28 is organised on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Mr Wong will return to Hong Kong on Sunday (January 29).
Ends/Thursday, January 26, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:00
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