Hong Kong, Netherlands Sign Tax Pact

The Hong Kong government said on Thursday, it and the Netherlands had signed an agreement to exempt ship owners in the two places from paying double tax. "The agreement is beneficial to ship owners in Hong Kong and the Netherlands as it exempts owners of Hong Kong ships from paying tax levied on cargo loaded in the Netherlands, and vice versa," Secretary for Economic Services Sandra Lee said. Lee said Hong Kong already had similar agreements with the United States, mainland China and Britain and was discussing the issue with about 20 other countries, including Germany, Greece, Australia and Denmark. -(Reuters)