WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/19
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5202)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
HONG KONG
Statement byMiss Denise YueChung-Yee
Secretary forTrade andIndustry
Thecongregation ofMinisters incharge oftheWorld Trade Organization onabiennial basis
ismandatedbytheAgreementEstablishingtheOrganization.Itisavitallyimportantbuilt-ininstitutional
mechanism toenable Ministers todemonstrate theirtotalpolitical commitment tothefullimplementation
ofthevarious facets oftrade liberalization agreed tointheWTO, aswellastocollectively address
thechallenges totherules-based multilateral trading system brought about byanincreasingly integrated
global economy.
ThisfirstMinisterial meeting oftheWTO hasobvious special significance: ithastochart the
future direction ofthework oftheWTO. Assuch, wemust aimtosetahighstandard. Inthis
connection, Iwishtopayspecial tribute totheSingapore Government forassuming theresponsibility
tohostthislandmark event andfortheiradmirable arrangements andhospitality; toDirector-General
Ruggiero andhisstaff; toChairman Rossier oftheGeneral Council; toallMembers fortheirhard
work inpreparation; andespecially toMinister YeoandhisVice-Chairpersons forguiding ustowhat
Iamsurewillbeasuccessful conclusion.
Being thefirstMinisterial Conference, wemustsetaclearvision fortheOrganization. For
Hong Kong, thisvision involves primarily achieving global freeandopentrade andfullparticipation
foralleconomies inthemultilateral trading system onanequal basis.
Foranorganizationwhichhasemergedfromsuccessiveroundsofprogressivetradeliberalization,
itisonlylogical tosetafreetradegoal. Indeed, thisisthegoalofmany existing andemerging regional
trade agreements. Given theprimacy oftheWTO inthesphere oftrade liberalization, weshould not
beanylessambitious. Hong Kong wants towork withevery other WTO Member tobring about a
world offreeandopenmarkets, governed byrulesandpractices which facilitate rather thanconstrain
liberalization; rules thatarerelevant totheneeds ofbusiness, which benefit consumers andwhich
improve thewell-being andprosperity ofmankind.
Onfullparticipation, firstwemust doeverything wecantofullyintegrate developing and
leastdeveloped countries intothemultilateral trading system. Iendorse inparticular theneedtoaddress
theproblem ofmarginalization forleastdeveloped countries. Secondly, wemustmove expeditiously
towards achieving universality ofWTO membership. Hong Kong strongly supports earlycompletion
oftheaccession process onthebasisofacceptance ofGATT/WTO principles andrulesandmeaningful
market access commitments, commensurate withthelevelofdevelopment oftheapplicant economies.
Inthebriefperiod since Marrakesh wehave, collectively, achieved agreat deal. There is
nodoubt that,thanks tothepainstaking efforts oftheMembers, implementation oftheUruguay Round
hasproceeded sofarwithremarkable smoothness, despite theenormity ofthetask. Butthere haveWT/MIN(96)/ST/19
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been, andcontinue tobe,some problems. Among themostintractable istextiles andclothing. Since
theAgreement onTextiles andClothing came intoforce, thetrend thusfarhasbeentowards further
restriction, rather thanrelaxation ofrestraints. Weseem actually tohavemoved backwards. Wehad
expected much better fromthe"liberalization" achieved under theUruguay Round. Icanseenobetter
andmore immediate waytotackle themarginalization ofleastdeveloped economies thanbyan
accelerated integration programme inthissector.
ItisnowbeingarguedbysomethattheWTOshouldactivelypromotetheobservanceofso-called
"core" labour standards. Much asHong Kong supports protection andpromotion oflabour rights,
IcanseenorolefortheWTO inthepromotion oflabour standards. TheILOisclearly therightforum.
Itismybelief thattheWTO canbestcontribute toimproved living standards andemployment by
concentrating onitstwintasksoftradeliberalization andtraderule-making. Itis,however, important
thatthesetwotasksmustgointandem. Onthetradeliberalization front, wehavemade gradual progress
andIhavespoken oftheultimate goal.
Ontrade rule-making, weareclearly lagging behind. TheWTO rules, many ofwhich were
designeddecadesago,arelookinglessandlessrelevantintoday'sincreasinglyintegratedworldeconomy.
Some ofthese rules evolved inasimpler world inwhich goods were manufactured inonecountry
andexported toanother. Themodern commercial reality isincreasingly much more complicated.
Itishightimewestarted tostudy whether therulesneedtobeupdated. Nodoubt itwould bealong
anddifficult, butnonetheless worthwhile exercise, which would beverymuch welcomed bybusinesses
andconsumers allovertheworld. Asyouknow, Hong Kong hasmade proposals inthisarea, which
Ibelieve merit further andpositive consideration.
Oftheother items onouragenda, Ishould liketoemphasise thatHong Kong places particular
importance onservices negotiations. Ourexperience inthisareatodatehasnotallbeengood. It
isvitalthatweshould nowproceed towrapupcredible dealsinbasictelecommunications andfinancial
services. Weshould beconscious thatthedeadline fortelecoms isalmost upon us.Thisisthetime
foreveryone involved tomake maximum efforts. Theresult willhave significant impact both
commercially andinterms ofconfidence-building intheWTO.
Wealsostrongly support theproposed agreement toliberalize tradeininformation technology
products. Suchanagreement willdemonstrate ourcommitment totheongoing process ofprogressive
tradeliberalization. Andweareinterested inexamining thepossibility ofmoving towards amultilateral
agreement ongovernment procurement. Inthatconnection, itgives megreat pleasure toannounce
thatonly lastweek Hong Kong reached agreement with thesignatories tojointheplurilateral
Government Procurement Agreement. Hong Kong hopes thataninitiation ofmultilateral discussions
ongovernmentprocurementintheWTO,inparallelwithongoingworkintheCommitteeonGovernment
Procurement andunder theGATS, willultimately leadtothedevelopment ofalevelplaying fieldfor
allsuppliers.
Inconclusion,HongKongexpectsabalancedandforward-lookingoutcomefromtheConference.
Thisisessential ifwearetoconvince theworld thatweareserious about thevision weseeforthis
Organization. Inthisprocess, Hong Kong willparticipate actively andconstructively boththisweek
andinthemonths andyears tocome. Thiswillremain sowhen Hong Kong becomes aSpecial
Administrative Region ofthePeople 'sRepublic ofChina. Inaccordance withtheagreement reached
between theUnited Kingdom andChina onthefuture ofHong Kong in1984, asnotified toGATT
Members in1986, andasenshrined intheBasic Law, theminiconstitution which willapply to
Hong Kong on1July1997, wewillcontinue tobeaseparate customs territory withfullautonomy
intheconduct ofourexternal commercial relations. Notonlythat,butthebasic fabric ofoursociety
suchasourlegal, judicial, financial andmonetary systems willremain unchanged. Hong Kong will
continue tobeadistinct member oftheWorld Trade Organization under thename of"Hong Kong,WT/MIN(96)/ST/19
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China", pursuing itsowntrade policies andwillremain totally committed, inaccordance withits
philosophy andtradition, tothepursuit offreetrade.