HONG KONG PRIORITIES FOR APEC

UNCLAS HONG KONG 004430

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND OES/OA
USTR FOR STRATFORD AND ALTBACH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD APECO CH HK
SUBJECT: HONG KONG PRIORITIES FOR APEC

REF: A. STATE 177258


B. STATE 184154


1. (SBU) Econoff delivered Ref A demarche to Hong Kong Trade
and Industry Department (TID) Assistant Director General
Petty Lai on October 24. On November 9, Lai gave Econoff a
non-paper laying out Hong Kong's positions on its major APEC
priorities and said that Hong Kong generally supports U.S.
positions on FTA draft models, technology choice principles,
and IPR model guidelines. As for the November 1-3 Food
Defense Workshop, Lai said that the relevant Hong Kong
Government (HKG) officials were previously committed to other
engagements and were unfortunately unable to attend. Econoff
also delivered Ref B talking points and Food Defense Workshop
summary to TID Trade Assistant Ada Kwan on November 13. Kwan
thanked Econoff for the summary and said that the HKG would
consider participation in future Food Defense related
activities.


2. (SBU) The text of Hong Kong's APEC Priorities non-paper
follows:

Begin Text:

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APEC Economic Leader's Meeting 2006 - Positions and Views of
Hong Kong on Major Issues

Support for Multilateral Trading System
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Since the suspension of negotiations under the Doha
Development Agenda (DDA) in July, WTO members have still not
yet reached a consensus on when and in what way to re-open
the negotiations. We expect that the Leaders would issue a
strong and firm statement aiming to urge the WTO members to
double their efforts to resume as soon as possible DDA
negotiations with flexible and pragmatic manners so as to
achieve an early completion.

Hanoi Action Plan for the Implementation of the Busan Roadmap
-------------- --------------

The Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) is considering the Hanoi
Action Plan for the implementation of the Busan Roadmap.
Concrete work will commence next year. The smooth
implementation of the Action Plan is critical to the
achievement of the Bogor Goals. We anticipate steering from
the Leaders concerning the way forward and reiteration of our
determination to achieve the Bogor Goals by 2010 and 2020.

Trade Facilitation
--------------

2006 is a pivotal year for trade facilitation. The SOM has
endorsed the review findings on the Trade Facilitation Action
Plan (TFAP) confirming the achievement of the targeted 5%
reduction in trade transaction costs, and agreed on the
framework of TFAP2 for a further 5% reduction in transaction
costs by 2010. We look forward to the Leader's recognition
of the efforts made by members and encourage the prompt
implementation of concrete work.

APEC Reform
--------------

Senior officials are considering the reform proposals
prepared by the Friends of the Chair Group on APEC Reform.
We expect to see a more streamlined structure of APEC aiming
for higher efficiency and effectiveness of operation, and
greater focus of its work on the core areas.

End Text.

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Cunningham