Tsang seeks visa-free US access for SAR citizens

Updated: 2011-11-15 07:14

By Guo Jiaxue(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按钮 0

Chief Executive says US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was 'receptive' to proposal

Chief Executive Donald Tsang has asked the United States to grant visa-free access to Hong Kong SAR passport holders.

The two sides have agreed to follow up the issue. But no timetable has been set down so far.

Tsang made the suggestion to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton while he was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Hawaii.

Winding up his US trip on Monday, Tsang announced some good news.

He said Clinton reacted "positively" to the visa-free proposal.

The reason no timetable has established is that the US is still dealing with a backlog of similar proposals from other countries and regions, he said.

The US processes a limited number of visa-free proposals every year.

Tsang said the SAR government has justification to believe that the waiver of visa requirement will not bring extra risk to the US.

Hong Kong SAR passport holders are highly reliable, strictly follow immigration laws and regulations, and rarely overstay, he said.

Besides, 140 countries and regions have already granted visa-free access to Hong Kong SAR passport holders, he added.

The US grants visa-free access to only four Asian countries currently - Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Brunei.

A manager of a local travel agency told Cable TV that he estimated the visa waiver will increase Hong Kong visitors by more than 10 percent.

In addition, the two sides also talked about the possibility of abolishing double taxation for Hong Kong-US businesses.

Tsang indicated that the two proposals will greatly promote exchanges of people and business between Hong Kong and its largest foreign trading partner. Hong Kong-US trade amount recorded HK $51.1 billion in 2010.

In the context of global economic downturn, the trade volume between the two still continued to climb, marking a 20 percent increase over the previous year, Tsang said.

This shows there is still much room for expanding cooperation between the two sides in areas such as trade and financial services, Tsang said.

Meanwhile, Tsang also met with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Bill English at the forum to discuss the progress of the country's free-trade agreement signed with Hong Kong in 2010, and the memorandum on education cooperation.

Tsang also talked with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. Both sides agreed to enter a free-trade agreement, hopefully to be signed early next year.

But Tsang didn't disclose whether Hong Kong will enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

He stressed that the government has to make sure that it will not undermine the multilateral trading arrangement of which Hong Kong is a partner, and must make sure it is conducive to regional cooperation, too.

guojiaxue@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 11/15/2011 page1)