Hong Kong donates US$500,000 to APEC

Director-General of Trade and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Joseph Lai recently led a delegation to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials’ Meeting in Lima, Peru.

During the meeting, APEC members discussed issues relating to trade facilitation, APEC reform, structural reform and corporate social responsibility.

Implementation of the second Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP II), endorsed by ministers in 2007, will be a major task. The plan aims to achieve a 5% further reduction of trade transaction costs by 2010, focusing on the areas of customs procedures, business mobility, standards and conformance and electronic commerce. Key performance indicators will be developed to monitor progress.

“Hong Kong, China, has been playing an active role in the formulation of TFAP II,” Mr. Lai said. “To make TFAP II a success, it is particularly important to step up capacity-building efforts to better equip developing member economies to respond to the changing business environment.

“As a small token, we have made a contribution of US$500,000 to the APEC Support Fund (ASF) in support of capacity building in developing economies, contributing to the implementation of TFAP II.”

Mr. Lai said the donation reflects the importance Hong Kong attaches to the action plan. “It also demonstrates our belief that capacity building is the key for the collective approach adopted for implementing TFAP II to be effective,” he said.

Mr. Lai and Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat and Ambassador Juan Carlos Capunay signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the donation on March 2 in Lima. The Hong Kong delegation was in Peru from February 29 to March 3.