A lobbying effort has begun to ensure Hong Kong will host the next major WTO ministerial meeting next year.
The move came after this year's planned meeting was dashed by uncertainties gripping the trade body since September when the last round of global talks in Cancun, Mexico, collapsed.
Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang Chun-wah has written to 147 World Trade Organisation members, detailing the preparations that Hong Kong is making in anticipation of hosting a ministerial conference in mid-2005.
In one such letter to South African Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, Mr Tsang outlined Hong Kong's support for holding a mini-conference this year to set an agenda for a major meeting to be held in the city next year.
'I share the view that 2004 must not be a lost year. Hong Kong, China, remains as committed as ever to organising a successful ministerial conference,' Mr Tsang wrote.
Trade representatives from WTO member states and territories failed to set a date for the next round of top-level talks at a meeting in Geneva this month.
