[asia-apec 1761] Hong Kong: Action against Fortune Global Forum

[Kevin Yuk-shing Li]

Hong Kong
Globalization Monitor

Action against Fortune Global Forum
Press release/declaration

People Before Profit

The Fortune Global Forum is holding its annual meeting in Hong Kong over this
week. Guests include the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and President
of PRC, Jiang Zemin as well as the former US President, Bill Clinton. In
keeping with the policies of influential global institutions such as the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum,
Fortune Global Forum's aim is to facilitate the investment of transnational
capital into every corner of the world - a policy  commonly known as
"globalisation".

The effect of globalisation on workers and farmers everywhere has been
devastating: increased exploitation; the destruction of stable jobs; a
downward spiral in wages; environmental havoc and a dramatic increase in the
gap between rich and poor. "Free trade" and "privatisation" have been the
rallying calls of the global financial institutions who are successfully
assisting transnational corporations (TNCs) to take over public resources and
reduce even the most basic of resources, such as water, into a
profit-generating commodity. One of the most pernicious results of "free
 trade" has been to pitch worker against worker as people from different
countries are forced to participate in a race to the bottom to seek job.

Here in Hong Kong, the partially-elected legislative body has been
enthusiastically promoting privatisation of the public sector over the last
few years. The results have been all-too-clear, a decrease in wages and an
increase in unemployment, as jobs are out-sourced and working conditions are
attacked. At the same time, TNCs have secured new contracts and increased
profit margins. Multinational banks such as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation Limited (HSBC) and the Standard Chartered Bank Limited have
callously penalised customers with small savings accounts, viewed as "non
profit-making", while simultaneously drawing up plans to lay off staff and
move their back-up service operations to low-wage regions such as China and
India. These moves are part of a global trend that has been continually noted
by the United Nations over the last decade, namely, a shift of wealth and
resources from the poor to the rich.

In response to the TNCs growing monopolisation of global resources, we have
witnessed an increasing number of people from around the world who have
protested against so-called globalisation. From Seattle's WTO meeting in 1999
to the meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec two weeks ago,
demonstrators have made their presence felt, despite often overwhelming police
violence. More and more ordinary people no longer tolerate the behavior of a
handful of enormously powerful TNCs and the governments who support them.
Globalization Monitor is joining a demonstration against the Fortune Global
Forum and calls on all those who are fed up with the hypocrisy of the global
super-rich to join the demonstration.

Date: May 8, 2001 (Tuesday)
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Convene at the entrance to the Family Planning Association, Wanchai
MTR, Southorn Playground Exit. Then walk to the demonstration area at the Hong
Kong Convention Center, Wanchai.
Contact persons: Yuen Hoi Yan (9223 9629) or May Wong (9012 2214)