5
Tuesday, December 11, 1973
Furthermore, demand for our exports might be affected if, in the
longer term, oil shortage were to slow down the growth of the economies
of our major markets. Though the tentative reports we have received forecast a slowing down in our markets in 1974/75, I suggest that too much credence should not be placed on such forecasts at this early stage; at present there is no real certainty as to the exact course that cuts in supply
will take or of the impact they will have on our major markets.
All this amounts to a prospect which is new and disturbing and which will call for careful thought and perhaps some adjustments, but which Cannot at present be fully assessed. We would be wrong to take it lightly, but we would be even more wrong to embrace gloom.
Dr. Chuang, Ladies and Gentlemen, traditionally our industries
produce light consumer goods. For a long time it has been widely assumed that medium and heavy industries, other than, perhaps, ship repairing, would not be financially viable in our environment. But rapid growth of our light
industries has created sufficient demand for materials and services to
make the establishment of some carefully selected heavier industries a
feasible proposition. Last year I said that the Government's industrial
land policy was being modified to take account of the need to remove disincentives to the development industries which are desirable but by their nature cannot be accommodated in high-rise buildings. The first fruits of this policy are beginning to appear.
/The first