Three events with major implications
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07/10/2001
Editor's note: FOCAL POINT, a new business column, makes its debut today with the aim of keeping our readers on the pulse of Hong Kong's economy and its social implications. The column is backed by a pool of distinguished guest writers - from business leaders and lawmakers to academics and scholars. We welcome more contributors to join the team and share their expertise and wisdom with our readers.Three pieces of current news have far-reaching implications for Hong Kong. First is Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's visit to the United States and his meeting tomorrow with President George W. Bush. Second is the completion of the latest Working Party meeting in Geneva and China's WTO accession. Third is that Tung just went personally to Guangdong to discuss the future of the Joint Guangdong-Hong Kong Co-operation Liaison Committee. Why do these three events have such important implications for Hong Kong? Let me elaborate. The first event is important because the US is Hong Kong's second largest export market next to the Chinese mainland and is the trading partner which most affects the economic growth of Hong Kong. Sino-US relations have had a rocky start since President Bush took office on January 20, due partly to the usual hiccups of an administration change; partly to new US policy makers with specific but untested ideas on how to deal with China; and partly due to unfortunate events which occurred during this period. Hong Kong is very much caught in the middle, and Tung's meeting with Bush and with senior US officials will allow him to carry Hong Kong's latest news to Washington. This is important since as Sino-US relations deteriorated, detractors of the relationship looked for any support for their cases, and they always raised suspicions about the oft-misunderstood "one country, two systems" concept being practised in Hong Kong. Tung will be able to personally dispel these misperceptions and counter the charges on behalf of Hong Kong. The second event is the conclusion of the Working Party meeting on China WTO entry. This is historic because that meeting adjourned on July 4 with virtually no more disagreements to be overcome on China's accession to the WTO. There are a couple of details to be cleaned up such as insurance, and there is the remaining matter of bilateral agreement between Mexico and China. But another working party meeting in mid-July plus the Mexican trade minister's visit to Beijing in late-July should leave only the procedural steps before China's entry before the end of this year. We do not need to go into the benefits of China's entry to China and to Hong Kong, as that has been written about numerous times before and will be after the event, but we can say that accession will have the fundamental effect of lifting China's economy to the next plateau and moving Hong Kong's economic development to a new stage. The third is the personal attention Tung is giving to Guangdong-Hong Kong co-operation.This is long overdue, as the liaison committee has had few results to show in the past three years. But economists and business people on both sides are increasingly aware that a more integrated Hong Kong-Guangdong, especially with the Pearl River Delta, is a must for Hong Kong's future economic development. The Pearl River Delta is a formidable hinterland to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's international connections and expertise, along with the mature service and logistics sectors, complement very nicely Pearl River Delta's increasingly higher technology manufacturing capability and the ease of attracting top mainland professionals to Shenzhen. In addition, Hong Kong's infrastructural development and environmental solutions must be done in synch with Guangdong. Therefore, we should all take note of how these three developments will have an important impact on Hong Kong's economic development. * Dr Eden Woon is the Director of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
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