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Hong Kong, host of global free trade talks in mid-December, said yesterday it was still optimistic that a deal could be reached this year, with Washington now ready after winning a free-trade pact with Central America.

John Tsang, secretary for commerce, industry and technology, told Reuters that, though disappointed, he was not discouraged by the failure to reach key interim accords by end-July.

"We are still quite optimistic that we will be able to make the Hong Kong meeting a successful one," Tsang said. "I sense that a lot of members are all very committed."

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is struggling to bridge divisions on how rich nations should cut their huge agricultural subsidies and open up their farm markets. They are also divided on how to reduce barriers to industrial goods and services.

With time running out, Tsang called on Washington to take the initiative together with the European Union to speed up the Doha Round of trade talks as it had now secured a hard-fought victory for its free trade pact with Central America (CAFTA).

"There's no more excuse... They need to come out and demonstrate strong leadership and take the matter forward," he said.

"Hopefully by mid-November we can come up with a draft Hong Kong declaration with as few square brackets as possible," he said, referring to unresolved issues which are left blank in the text.

Failure in Hong Kong could trigger the collapse of the round, launched in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide plane attacks in the United States in a bid to give a boost to a jittery global economy.

The round, which the World Bank said could help lift 500 million people out of poverty, collapsed in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003 as rich and poor economies failed to bridge deep divisions over issues ranging from farm reform to new trade rules.

It got back on track last year in July, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.

Tsang said Hong Kong, which had no agricultural interests, was a perfect broker for helping the 148 members reach a satisfactory agreement on farm issues, seen one of the most contentious issues in the talks.

He also said he expected a strong push from former European Union trade chief Pascal Lamy, who will take over from Supachai Panitchpakdi as WTO Director-General on September 1.

"He is coming in at a very good time," Tsang said. "He is a marathon runner. He is someone who knows about peserverance, and he's a very tough character."

Tsang added: "This is a development round and we have to pay a great deal of attention to the development issues."

Asked about the interests of Hong Kong, where services account for about 90 per cent of the tiny territory's gross domestic product, the commerce minister said he was disappointed by the slow pace of progress in the sector.

To gain momentum, Hong Kong has proposed an additional multilateral approach to the services negotiations, which were currently based on a bilateral approach, he said.

In the run-up to the December meeting, Tsang said Hong Kong also planned to host a round table discussion with non-government organization (NGOs) to secure freedom of speech, while staving off violent conflicts such as those at a meeting in Seattle in 1999.

"We want to ensure freedom of expression is maintained. But we would insist this be done in a peaceful way," he said. "Our approach is going to be an inclusive approach. We want to involve everyone."

A date for the meeting has yet to be set, Tsang added.