THE Government is set to announce a range of Budget measures intended to boost the burgeoning services sector.
Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is believed to be finalising measures designed to encourage providers to export their services within the region and globally.
The measures are likely to extend beyond the financial sector into the provision of sophisticated services in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.
Plans to boost the promotion of services are likely to have been given a fillip by last week's revelation that the territory's visible trade deficit slipped $147 billion into the red last year - its biggest trade gap in 13 years. That was a jump of more than 80 per cent over 1994 and arose after huge volumes of capital goods were imported for the massive airport and other infrastructure projects taking shape in the territory.
Economists estimate that revenues generated by services will have to have grown by at least 40 per cent since that period to offset the deficit.
The Government also is planning to mount a new campaign against anti-dumping legislation.
Trade officials intend to renew their campaign for support to have the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rescind existing rules.
