Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, and Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr Wang Shouwen, sign the Agreement on Trade in Services under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).
Macao and the mainland today signed a new agreement under the framework of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), signifying what for practical purposes amounts to a full enactment of the policy of Liberalisation of Trade in Services between Macao and the mainland. The Agreement on Trade in Services under CEPA further expands – to a total of 153 sectors – those areas of the mainland economy that are fully or partially open to Macao providers of services. The agreement means Macao’s CEPA permissions now cover 95.6 percent of the 160 trade and service sectors officially recognised and classified as such by the World Trade Organization. The Acting Chief Executive and Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, and the Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr Wang Shouwen, represented respectively the Macao Government and the Central Government at the signing of the latest agreement. The ceremony was held after the CEPA High-level Meeting of the 2015 Steering Committee involving official delegations led by Mr Leong and Mr Wang. The Agreement on Trade in Services states that national treatment will be applied to Macao providers of services in 62 sectors. They include new sectors such as veterinary services, passenger transportation, supporting services to the road transport network, and services to the sports sector. The updated “positive list” under the framework of CEPA covers 20 newly added areas of cooperation in cross-boundary services, telecommunications and culture. They include: legal consultancy; construction; healthcare and dental services; veterinary services; the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry; retailing; audio-visual services; and the recreation industry. The “negative list” – those economic areas inconsistent with or inapplicable to the policy of national treatment – is shortened to 120 areas from 132 areas. The Agreement on Trade in Services will come into effect on 1 June 2016. The signing ceremony was attended by the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Yao Jian; the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR, Mr Pan Yundong; the Head of Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr Sun Tong; the Head of Department of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Xiang Bin; the Chief of Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ms Lok Kit Sim; and the Deputy Director-General of the Macao Customs Service, Mr Sin Wun Kao. The Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) was initiated in 2004, with the aims of promoting the mutual economic prosperity and development of the mainland and the Macao SAR and of enhancing the level of economic and trade cooperation between the two places. Since then CEPA has been continuously deepened and has enriched the cooperation between the two places. Macao and the mainland have so far endorsed ten supplements as well as the CEPA Agreement between the Mainland and Macao on Achieving Basic Liberalisation of Trade in Services in Guangdong. The effect of all the agreements is to give Macao greater opportunities to strengthen ties with business on the mainland.