Season's Greetings to our Chamber members and all readers of The Bulletin. As we contemplate the end of a year of extraordinary events on the global stage, and the prospect of further difficulties ahead, it is perhaps too easy to be carried along on the dark cloud of uncertainty. For the Hong Kong SAR, at least one recent event of world significance gives us reason for confidence.

Taking prime place in trade and investment news last month was certainly the formal accession of Mainland China to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) -- after 15 years of negotiations -- at the group's Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar. By the time you are reading this in early-to-mid December, the Mainland should, in fact, be a confirmed member, full accession coming 30 days after the actual signing in Doha on November 11.

As you may be aware, the Chamber has for some time been monitoring closely the Mainland's accession process and in the middle of last year produced the first edition of its report on the country's imminent entry and its likely impacts on Hong Kong business. Since then, there has been a second edition of the report, in both English and Chinese, and regular workshops to update members on the prospects for different sectors of the economy post-WTO entry.

The challenge for all of us in business and the professions in the Hong Kong SAR is to make the most of the tremendous opportunities that will surely come our way as the Mainland further opens its markets under the agreed-to WTO schedule. Without doubt, there will be plenty of competition out there as companies and firms from around the world seek to take full advantage of the burgeoning China market. Hong Kong has shown in the past that it can compete on the world stage, both in terms of its own business expertise and as a base for foreign-owned businesses working in China and in the Asian region more generally.

It is up to all of us in the local business sector to be ever vigilant for new business and investment opportunities on the Mainland and to use our well-developed business and professional skills and knowledge to achieve our objectives. Let us not forget our advantages as a totally free and open market, a global financial centre, a logistics hub, and a services centre.

Finally, the SAR Government has put forward to the Central Government a proposal of a free trade agreement with the Mainland, and we are glad to hear that the Central Government is reacting to this proposal positively. Some of you may know that this is an idea the Chamber has championed for the last couple of years. Our idea is that one element of the agreement can be to provide a head start for Hong Kong service sector businesses before full implementation of China's WTO accession commitments. The Chamber will be working in the next couple of months on suggestions to the SAR Government on what we think should be included in such a regional trade agreement. Hong Kong and the Mainland being in one country is an added value to us. Hong Kong and the Mainland, as two separate customs territories under the WTO, covered by a free trade agreement would provide us a rule-based environment to enhance further integrated trade and economic relations between the two areas. Again, Premier Zhu Rongji has indicated a willingness for China to enter into a free trade agreement with the ASEAN countries. Why should we not try too?