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John Tsang, Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Monday pledged Hong Kong will do its utmost to help achieve a credible outcome for the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to be held later this year.
Tsang was addressing the plenary discussion of the 38th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council on the WTO and global economy maximizing benefits and sustaining growth.
He said a successful Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and the smooth conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations in 2006 will be the best answers to the anti-globalization arguments.
"We agreed on a big and bold agenda at Doha. We need a big and bold result in Hong Kong," said the official, adding that Hong Kong wanted an outcome for this round of negotiations, that was ambitious and meaningful, and most importantly and commercially relevant.
Tsang also highlighted the huge potential gains brought about from active participation in WTO, and, in particular, active engagement in the negotiations under the DDA.
"The DDA presents us with a 'once in a generation opportunity' to remove distortive subsidies in agriculture, to bring about ambitious reduction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers for industrial and agricultural products alike, and to create new and meaningful commercial opportunities in services," he noted.
The 38th International General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council kicked off Monday and will conclude Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2005)
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