Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa said Thursday that the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which Hong Kong will sign with the mainland at the end of June, will provide Hong Kong with more business opportunities.

Tung told legislators at a question and answer session that CEPA will surely benefit Hong Kong's economic restructuring and bring new opportunities to the service and manufacturing industries in Hong Kong.

The chief executive said that CEPA is not a final agreement, it will be enriched in line with the development of the economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Tung noted that the main problem that Hong Kong had met with during the Asian financial crisis in 1998, which it also met with during the SARS period this year, is that the economic structure of Hong Kong is too simplified.

In order to resolve this problem, the CEPA will grant Hong Kong goods entering mainland market at zero tariffs.

Tung said that economic benefits the CEPA will bring to Hong Kong would depend on how the businesses of Hong Kong could take advantage of the CEPA provisions to expand themselves. 

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