Report of the Hong Kong Delegation to the World Services Congress

Atlanta 1-3 November 1999

1. Background

Since the beginning of the Uruguay Round of the GATT, the Coalitions of Service Industries around the world have held 13 international conferences. One result of these conference was the emergence of the concept of a large scale World Services Congress. The first such Congress was organised by the USCSI in November 1999. Its theme was “Services: Generating Global Growth and Opportunity”. The Hong Kong Coalition of Service Industries is a “partner organisation” of the Congress.

The Congress took place in the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia on 1-3 November 1999. It drew an audience of 7,00 national and international leaders from government, business, academia, foundations, international organisations and the media.

The Congress was made up of a three-day Conference which included three plenary sessions, fifty-five seminars in six concurrent forums, two luncheon presentations, two receptions and a dinner. In addition, there was a “Global Services Marketplace” of exhibition and display areas.

2. Hong Kong delegation

With support from the Services Promotion Strategy Group chaired by the Financial Secretary, a Hong Kong delegation to the WSC was organised by the HKCSI, as one of the ten Action Agenda items in the government’s Services Promotion Programme of 1999/2000.

The full Hong Kong delegation consisted of 26 people, including one spouse. Two of the delegation members did not attend the Congress, so the actual number in Atlanta was 24. That still made the Hong Kong group one of the biggest foreign delegations, probably second after Japan (which had about 30 delegates).

The full Hong Kong delegation were as follows:

1. Mr Stuart Harbinson, Permanent Representative, Geneva Office, HK SAR Government

 

HKCSI

2. Mr Stanley Ko, Chairman, HKCSI (Delegation Leader)
3. Mr KC Kwok, Vice Chairman, HKCSI
4. Mr Nick Brooke, Chairman, Brooke International
5. Ms Catherine Wong, Hong Kong China Gas
6. Mr Richard Pyvis, Chief Operating Officer, CLSA Global Emerging Markets (did not attend)
7. Mr Edmund Bradley, Global Head of Broking, CLSA Global Emerging Markets
8. Dr WK Chan, Secretary General, HKCSI

 

NGO

9. Mr Thomas Tang, Executive Director, HK Productivity Council
10. Dr W.C. Keung, Branch Director, HK Productivity Council
11. Ms Lily Shum, Regional Director, HK Tourist Association
12. Mr Stanley Yip, General Manager, HK Tourist Association
13. Mr Alan Wong, Director of Services Promotion, HK Trade Development Council
14. Ms Peggie Liu, New York Office, Hong Kong Trade Development Council
15. Mr Peter Lo, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation
16. Mr Allan Sensicle, Consultant, Hong Kong Vocational Training Council
17. Mrs Patricia Sensicle
18. Mr Robin Wong, Management Development Centre, HK Vocational Training Council (did not attend)

 

Academics

19. Professor Enoch Young, Hong Kong University
20. Mr John Cribbin, Hong Kong University
21. Dr Anming Zhang, City University of Hong Kong
22. Dr Leung Wing-fai, City University of Hong Kong

 

Government

23. Mr Raymond Fan, Director, Economic and Trade Office (New York), HKSAR Government
24. Ms Gloria Wong, Economic and Trade Office (New York), HKSAR Government
25. Ms Maureen Siu, Assistant Director, BSPU
26. Dr CM Luk, HKSAR Government Census and Statistics Department

3. Attendance

The organisers claimed a total registration of more than 700 from 53 countries. A partial list of participants containing 608 names had been obtained by the HKCSI. The biggest number of attendance was likely to be during the Opening Session and the first night’s reception. On both occasions the attendance was probably around 400. The average presence during the conference was estimated to be about 200-300.

In its promotion the organiser had envisaged an attendance of 2,000. Although that did not materialise, the Congress was still a large scale event. Considering the substantive nature of the Congress and its substantial length (the full programme spanned four days), we consider the Congress a success even though the target attendance had not been reached.

Needless to say, the biggest attendance was from North America and Europe. Japan also sent a strong delegation of some 30 people. A few delegates came from Mainland China; among them the most senior was Gao Shangquan, a former Vice Minister of the State Commission for the Restructuring of the Economy. An official from Washington in charge of the WTO, Hong Xiaodong, was also present. Chinese Taipei also sent a few representatives.

The highest level dignitary to attend the Conference was Fidel Ramos, former President of the Philippines, who gave a luncheon speech during the first day. The Mayor of Atlanta also attended the Opening Ceremony. WTO Director General Mike Moore gave a videotaped presentation for the Congress Dinner.

4. The Global Services Network

The Global Services Network evolved from the meeting of the CSIs into an informal network whose membership was open to CSIs as well as other interested organisations worldwide. Although it has no legal status, it plays an important role in guiding the development of CSIs or similar organisations in individual economies, as well as coordinates joint efforts such as the organisation of the World Services Congress or similar events.

A meeting of the GSN was held at 4:00pm on the eve of the Congress on 31 October. The meeting was chaired by Andrew Buxton, Chairman of Barclays Bank and was attended by about 50 representatives from 20 countries. The meeting agreed on the following:

• a statement to the WTO Ministerial in Seattle
• the role of the GSN as an “advocacy body”, not a lobby group but more than a mere information exchange group
• to organise a meeting of the GSN next year, probably in Geneva
• to organise the next large scale World Services Congress the year after.

Prior to the GSN meeting, an informal “contact group” meeting was held one hour earlier. The contact group consisted of a smaller group of regular contacts among the GSN network, many of them being executives of CSIs or related organisations. Before that, a preparatory luncheon was held by a smaller “insider group” among the “contact group”. HKCSI Secretary General WK Chan attended all three meetings.

5. Global Services Marketplace

The “Marketplace” was the WSC’s associated exhibition. It extended for two full days, opening on the eve of the Congress (Sunday 31 October) and ending before the Congress Dinner on Tuesday night.

The exhibition was modest in scale, featuring 41 exhibitors. Hong Kong took up three stands on the theme of promoting Hong Kong as a service centre. The booth was designed, constructed and manned by the Trade Development Council. The Hong Kong booth was well received due to its outstanding design.

6. Plenary sessions

The opening ceremony was held in the Hyatt Ballroom and was well attended. It was chaired by Dean O’Hare, Chairman of the Chubb Corporation and the USCSI. The keynote speaker was Deputy US Trade Representative Richard Fisher. Other speakers included former Australian trade minister Michael Duffy and Ambassador Tatsuo Arima from Japan.

The plenary session on the second day was held in the form of a reporting back session for the “business policy forums” of the breakout sessions. The Chairman of the plenary was Roberto de Ocampo, a senior advisor to Arthur Andersen and a former finance minister of the Philippines. The panel included fourteen private sector representatives, all of them chairmen of the various breakout sessions; as well as five government officials. The latter included a representative each from Japan, US, EC, Australia and Hong Kong’s Stuart Harbinson. All private sector panelists were given an opportunity to report briefly on their group’s discussion and recommendations, after which the government representatives were invited to comment. A wide range of subjects were covered, including legal services, insurance, telecommunications, entertainment, accountancy, energy services, and the general issues of regulatory reform and China’s accession to the WTO.

The Congress Dinner on Tuesday night was to feature WTO Director General Mike Moore as the keynote speaker but due to intense preparation for Seattle, Mr Moore could only make his presence through video. He was however represented by WTO Director for Services David Hartridge who supplemented further remarks after the video was shown.

The theme of the closing plenary on Wednesday was “The Role of Government in the Age of Knowledge”. The speeches and comments were very well received.

7. Congress breakout sessions

The Congress consisted of 55 seminars organised in six breakout sessions, with more than 200 panelists deliberating on 102 prepared papers. The papers had been compiled into a CD Rom.

Because each breakout session consisted of about nine groups, attendance in the breakout groups was much smaller, typically, in the 20-30 range. A few popular groups drew upwards of 60 people, while the smallest groups had about 10 participants.

The 55 breakout groups were divided into four categories, namely, academic, government, business opportunity, and business policy. On average, each session featured about three panelists in addition to the Chairman. The panelists might or might not be authors of papers presented during the Congress.

The Hong Kong delegation were involved in a number of forums, in various roles as panelists and chairmen, as follows.

• Nick Brooke – Panelist of Session BOF4 “New business opportunities and alliances in emerging markets”
• WK Chan – panelist of Session BOF3 “Expanding business opportunities: China on the brink of the WTO”
• Stuart Harbinson – Panelist of Session A11 “Structuring Services 2000 for more effective results”
• KC Kwok – Panelist of Session BPF7 “Services in the Asia Pacific Basin”
• Peter Lo – Chairman of Session A8 “Globalisation and the City: Location of Services Activities”
• CM Luk – panelist of Session A5 “Classification systems and data collection methods”
• Thomas Tang – Panelist in Session BOF11 “The promise of electronic commerce for developing countries and SMEs”
• Enoch Young and Allan Sensicle – Panelists of Session A13 “Education and training: supporting global services industries”
• Anming Zhang and Leung Wing Fai, Panelists of Session A9 “How to measure barriers to services trade and FDI”

8. Hong Kong reception

The HKSAR government, represented by Stuart Harbinson, was the host of the first night’s reception. The event was coordinated by the Business and Services Promotion Unit with support by the Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Tourist Association. The TDC constructed panels for a small exhibition inside the reception hall, while the HKTA provided two Chinese musicians to play Erhu and other Chinese musical instruments. The Hong Kong Productivity Council also helped in the production of a video presentation featuring promotional clips provided by the TDC, HKTA, the Chamber and HKPC.

The reception turned out to be a highlight of the Congress. Participants gave high regard to the displays, the video, as well as the food and drink. Many were highly impressed by the Chinese music.

After the reception, the Hong Kong delegation attended a dinner arranged by the Hong Kong Association in Atlanta and hosted by Raymond Fan, Director of the SAR New York Office.

9. Hong Kong forum

A “Hong Kong Forum” was held on Tuesday afternoon as one of the “Business Opportunity Forums” of the Congress. The theme of the Forum was “Hong Kong: Headquartering your service business in Asia’s Service Centre”. It was chaired by HKCSI Chairman Stanley Ko with TDC’s Alan Wong and CLSA’s Edmund Bradley as panelists, all members of the Hong Kong delegation.

After the success of the Hong Kong reception, the Hong Kong forum turned out to be a disappointment. Only about 25 people turned up, two thirds of whom were from Hong Kong.

10. Other activities of the Hong Kong delegation

Because of the substantial sponsorship, the Hong Kong delegation was provided with a hospitality suite. The delegation met and had dinner in the suite on Sunday evening, after the opening of the exhibition. That dinner was sponsored by Mr Stanley Ko, leader of the Delegation.

With the help of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, HKCSI Chairman Stanley Ko and other members gave ten interviews to local media reporters, including two substantial radio interviews conducted over the phone in the hospitality suite. The suite became generally a “headquarter” and resting lounge for the Hong Kong delegation.

11. The next Congress

During the Congress representatives of the HKPC, HKTA, BSPU, TDC and HKCSI held a meeting in the hospitality suite to consider the merits of Hong Kong hosting the next Congress. The concensus that emerged was that Hong Kong should make a serious bid to host a Congress in 2001 as another collective effort of “Hong Kong Inc.” It could be organised under the banner of the HKCSI, with HKPC and TDC as implementation agents, and with government underwriting the financial cost.

In line with previous CSI conferences, there is no formal bidding process apart from being constantly engaged in the discussion amongst GSN members. It was agreed that the HKCSI and other organisations should seriously pursue this with the GSN.

12. Financial Leaders Group

The Financial Leaders Group, an informal group of corporate leaders of key multinationals in the financial services sector, was chaired by Andrew Buxton and coordinated by the USCSI. It is very influential particularly on the WTO financial services negotiations. Hong Kong’s Victor Fung is also a member. The work of the FLG is supported by another group known as “Financial Leaders Working Group”, which consists of the senior representatives of the FLG members. HKCSI Secretary General WK Chan and TDC Director for Services Promotion Alan Wong are both members of the FLWG.

Because the USCSI is the secretariat for both FLG and FLWG as well as organiser for the WSC, they took the opportunity of the Congress to hold a meeting of the FLG at 5:30pm on Monday, just before the Hong Kong reception. HKCSI Vice Chairman KC Kwok attended the FLG meeting.

13.    Conclusion

The Hong Kong delegates unanimously agreed that the Congress was a success and the Hong Kong had, through the delegation, made an impressive presence. The substantial effort involved in organising the Hong Kong delegation was considered to be worthwhile. The delegation also recommended that Hong Kong consider seriously bidding for the next Congress to be held in 2001.