Warm welcome: Chief Executive Donald Tsang is greeted by the Political Counsellor/Deputy Head of Mission of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, Zhai Leiming.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang says political determination is needed if WTO members want to conclude the Doha Development Agenda negotiations in time.

Mr Tsang arrived in Hanoi today to attend the 14th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation on November 18 and 19.

Strong push

To translate APEC's 2006 theme of Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development & Prosperity into concrete action, Mr Tsang said economic leaders need to give a strong push to the resumption of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations and the effective implementation of the Busan Roadmap to realise the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong last year had been a success and had drawn up the launching pad for the conclusion of the Doha Round. Yet, an agreement still eludes us. We are keen to see that the round will be concluded in time and deliver a result that benefits the entire WTO membership," Mr Tsang said.

"This meeting will provide an invaluable opportunity for leaders to inject strong political impetus and give a final push to effecting an early conclusion of the Doha Round."

Action plan

On the implementation of the Busan Roadmap, Mr Tsang said he looks forward to a strong and concrete action plan for endorsement during the meeting.

Mr Tsang will attend the APEC CEO Summit tomorrow, at which President Hu Jintao will deliver a keynote speech. He will join other economic leaders at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting over the weekend to discuss a range of issues.