60243 The World Trade Organization, the international body to monitor and promote the free trade system, is launched on January 1.
60244 It monitors trade as a whole under a unified rule, including areas such as agriculture, service and intellectual property right, which were excluded under the GATT.
60245 Global trade enters into the new era toward the 21st century as the GATT is replaced by the new organization with a strengthened function to settle disputes.
60246 "The WTO is the first organization which provides the basis for the stability and security of multinational trade.We must establish a trade system which works satisfactorily without squandering the trust in the GATT system."
60247 Director-General Peter Southerland emphasized this is "a historic moment," carrying off the GATT sign to the entrance hall of the GATT headquarters in Geneva.
60248 The GATT secretariat says 80 countries, such as Japan, the US and the EU countries have completed by December 30 the procedure for WTO membership by depositing instruments of acceptance of the WTO rules.
60249 Nine countries have finished the domestic procedure, though they have yet to deposit letters.
60250 Three people, ex-President of Mexico, Carlos Salinas de Gotari, former Minister for Foreign Trade of Italy, Renato Ruggiero, and former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy of South Korea, Kim are running for the seat of 1st director-general.
60251 Southerland will work as an interim director-general until the election result comes in the middle of March.
60252 The Dow Jones Industrial Average on the 30th, the end of the trading for 1994, was at 3,834.44 dollars, up 1.01 dollars from the previous day.
60253 In November, it went below 3,700 dollars.
60254 However, it recovered after that, and the stock price remains steady, reflecting quiet long-term interest rates.
60255 The air route between Hong Kong and Taipei is highest in transport volume among the international routes.
60256 It is the biggest gold mine for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong and China Airlines in Taiwan.
60257 The main reason is that as many as a million and a few hundred thousand Taiwanese go to China through Hong Kong every year, because the Taiwanese government does not permit direct flights to China.