On February 16, Hong Kong donated US$200,000 to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) toward work on the reduction of trade transaction costs and other trade facilitation efforts.
Hong Kong made the donation during the APEC 2009 First Senior Officials Meeting (SOMI) in Singapore.
A major task facing APEC in 2009 is implementation of the Second Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP II). Focusing on the areas of customs procedures, business mobility, standards and conformance and electronic commerce, TFAP II aims for a further 5% reduction of trade transaction costs in the period 2007-2010.
“Hong Kong, China, has been playing an active role in the formulation and implementation of TFAP II,” Hong Kong Director-General of Trade and Industry Joseph Lai said. “Building on past work, this year APEC will work towards developing an objective methodology to measure the effect of implementing TFAP II in terms of reduction in trade transaction costs. We have made a contribution of US$200,000 to the APEC Policy Support Unit to undertake this task and other work on TFAP II.
“APEC is the leading forum in promoting free trade and trade facilitation in the Asia-Pacific region. In the face of the current challenges in the global economy, it is all the more important to continue to streamline processes and reduce trade transaction costs. We hope that our contribution will support initiatives that lead us closer to the shared vision of free trade. It also reflects the importance we attach to the successful implementation of TFAP II,” he said.
Mr. Lai and the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Ambassador Michael Tay, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the donation.
Mr. Lai, who led the Hong Kong delegation at APEC SOMI, discussed with senior trade officials a range of issues aimed at strengthening regional economic integration and promoting trade and investment facilitation.
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