A garment factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Thoseparts relating to Hong Kong and five Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) member countries, under the Investment Agreement (IA) between Hong Kongand ASEAN, will enter into force on June 17, a spokesperson for China's HongKong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government was cited by China’sXinhua News Agency on May 16.
Upon the entry into force of thementioned IA, the five ASEAN member countries, namely Laos, Myanmar, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam, will provide Hong Kong enterprises investing in theirareas with fair and equitable treatment of their investments, physicalprotection and security of their investments, and the assurance on the freetransfer of their investments and returns.
Meanwhile, parts relating toHong Kong and Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam under the freetrade agreement (FTA) between Hong Kong and ASEAN will take effect on June 11.
Upon the implementation of thementioned FTA, Singapore will bind all its customs duties at zero, whereasLaos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will progressively reduce or eliminatetheir customs duties on goods originating from Hong Kong. The tariff reductioncommitments cover various kinds of Hong Kong commodities including jewelry,articles of apparel and clothing accessories, watches and clocks and toys.
On trade in services, Hong Kongservice providers will enjoy legally binding market access conditions and thus benefitfrom the enhanced business opportunities in a wide range of services sectors.
Hong Kong and ASEAN signed the FTA and the IA at theend of 2017. The dates of entry into force for the remaining five ASEAN member countries,namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, will beannounced as soon as they are confirmed.-VNA
VNA
