Call for flexibility in service sector
Free movement of labour, industrial liberalisation and regulatory reform top a 'wish list' the Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) has submitted to the Government in preparation for the global round of service-industry negotiations.
The talks, known as the Services2000 round, were officially launched by the World Trade Organisation in February but are unlikely to get under way until later this year.
A previous attempt to start them broke down amid acrimony at the Seattle summit in December.
Service industries account for 85 per cent of Hong Kong's economy, according to CSI - a part
of the General Chamber of Commerce.
Therefore, the outcome of the WTO's service negotiations will be crucial to the SAR's growth prospects.
'The Hong Kong Government needs to go in there with strong positions on how to benefit Hong Kong and what to ask for,' said Eden Woon Yi-teng, the chamber's director.
CSI is calling for more liberal immigration regimes because globalisation forces service industries, particularly financial ones, to shift managers across national borders with greater frequency.
However, the SAR appears largely unwilling to reciprocate by opening its own doors.
A summary of commitments made in the previous round of service talks, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, explicitly rules out any Hong Kong commitment to labour mobility in a variety of business services.
CSI is not making any suggestions for commitments Hong Kong could offer in this round of WTO talks.
David Dodwell, a director at Jardine Fleming and a commentator on trade issues, was critical of this approach, saying the SAR would do well to liberalise its own service sector instead of waiting for the WTO do it on a global level.
Hong Kong would be the big loser from global liberalisation, he said, watching its open-economy advantage slip away once the mainland joined the WTO.
