Next round hinges on details of US move to expand 2000 pact
Negotiators were unable to agree on a revamped bilateral air services deal between Hong Kong and the United States yesterday, concluding the talks without setting a firm date for a new round.
The negotiations ended in the middle of the second day in Washington. The ball was left in the US court and the possibility of reconvening later this year was left open, a government official said.
'We will now wait for the US side to give us detailed proposals on how they would like to proceed with any expansion [of the 2002 agreement],' said Wilson Fung Wing-yip, deputy secretary for economic development and labour.
'They [the American negotiators] are still expecting a considerable expansion. But whether we will accept it will depend on the details of their proposal.'
Despite starkly disparate agendas surfacing in the build-up to the talks, Mr Fung said the atmosphere had been 'extremely good, very professional'.