The Chamber was honoured to welcome Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, on 5 December to learn more about business development in Hong Kong. She was accompanied by Tomochika Uyama, Senior Advisor to the Director-General, and Nicole Mensa, Special Assistant and Advisor on Gender, Office of the Director-General.
During a meeting with Chamber Chairman Agnes Chan, Vice Chairman Douglas Woo, CEO Patrick Yeung, and committee leaders, Okonjo-Iweala updated members on the WTO’s efforts in globalisation and reconfiguring global supply chains.
She highlighted the WTO’s work in negotiating the Service Domestic Regulation Agreement, E-commerce Agreement and Investment Facilitation Agreements. Despite rising economic concerns over geopolitical tensions and polarization, global trade has remained resilient, with 75%-80% of goods trade taking place in WTO Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) terms. She also expressed optimism for AI implementation, which could optimize trade operations by reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
Discussing the WTO’s strategies in cooperation between member and non-member countries, she stressed the importance of the WTO in creating forward-looking instruments in both multilateral and plurilateral agreements that align with the ever-changing global landscape. In response to Chan’s query about ESG development, Okonjo-Iweala expressed concerns about environmental threats and revealed that the WTO is investigating interoperable carbon policy on a global scale to support net-zero targets by 2050.
James Tong, Chairman of the HKCSI-Executive Committee, shared the business community’s long-term confidence in Mainland-related enterprises. This is evident in customers’ demand for high-quality commodities and services and the latest amendments to the terms of Trade in Services under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement. General Committee member Wilson Kwong emphasized the growth of Hong Kong’s aviation sector with the three-runway system now operational. Yeung pointed out that amid these developments, Hong Kong businesses were confident about expanding their operations, as reflected in the Chamber’s latest Business Prospects Survey.
The moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions and the WTO’s work program on e-commerce are approaching expiration unless a decision is made to extend them. The Chamber strongly supports continuing these measures and is dedicated to finding a viable solution.
The HKCSI-Executive Committee is a member of the Global Services Coalition.