Trade monitoring
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Between 2014 and 2017, the economy of Hong Kong, China (HKC) grew at an average annual rate of 2.8%, driven mainly by domestic demand and exports, mainly to the People’s Republic of China (Mainland China). This growth rate is slightly lower than at the time of the previous Review. Services, in particular trade and finance, continued to be the mainstay of the economy, contributing 92% to GDP and 88% to total employment, and reflecting HKC’s position as a global trade and financial centre. HKC remains one of the most open economies in the world, with a trade/GDP ratio of 375%. Its investment regime remains open.
Impact of technology on labour market outcomes
This section considers the effects of technology on the level and composition of employment and wages. Technological progress, by increasing the productivity of factors of production, expands an economy’s production possibility frontier, so that the same amount of output can be produced with fewer resources, or more output can be produced with the same amount of resources.
Standards and Trade Development Facility
The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) – the Aid for Trade vehicle to help developing countries implement sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards – continued to raise awareness, mobilize resources, strengthen collaboration and identify and disseminate good practice to enhance the effectiveness of SPS-related technical cooperation. It also provided support and funding for the development and implementation of projects that promote compliance with international SPS requirements. An independent review of the STDF reported that “the results are impressive and a testament to the effective operation of the STDF”.
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Togo are members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Agriculture is of key importance to all three economies. Côte d’Ivoire, in particular, has been able to develop and diversify its agricultural sector through the cultivation of coffee, rubber, fruit, cotton and palm oil, in addition to cocoa, of which it is the world’s leading producer. The main mining sector exports are petroleum products and gold. Its share of manufacturing exports, centred on the agricultural processing industry, declined sharply during the last decade, but Côte d’Ivoire has considerable potential for increasing the value added of such exports. The main destinations of its goods exports are the European Union and Africa, including the ECOWAS countries in particular.