Hong Kong is planning to give emphasis on finalizing the proposed Hong Kong-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreement (FTA) as quickly as possible. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So announced this after meetings with the five major chambers of commerce. He said “We note that the negotiation procedure between a third-party FTA partner and ASEAN economies will usually take about two to three years to complete”.
He recalled that support from the Chinese Government and following ASEAN’s recent consent, the Government expects to start formal free trade negotiations in mid July, after the conclusion of running public consultation.
The FTA will include a framework for intellectual property co-operation; liberalization of trade in service; the liberalization, promotion, and protection of investment; and the elimination or reduction of tariffs, rules of origin. ASEAN is the second and fourth largest trading partner of Hong Kong in terms of goods and services respectively.
