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recount here the many shifts and turns which the negotiations,
both formal and informal, have recently taken in Geneva.
Throughout them Hong Kong has stuck firmly to a policy of
advocating a straight extension of the terms. In this
we have been in concert with many other participants,
developing and developed. But although a group of participants
including Hong Kong, who between them represent about 85 per cent
of world trade in textiles, reached a consensus last Sunday,
it was not possible for the Textiles Committee as a whole
to agree.
The partial consensus was on a complex form of
words agreeing amongst other things a flexible approach to
future negotiations within the framework and in accordance
with the provisions of a renewed and unchanged MFA.
I shall be putting the terms as agreed between the
negotiators before the Textiles Advisory Board so that,
on the basis of their advice, I can make a recommendation as
to whether the Hong Kong Government should stand ready to
sign a protocol, incorporating these terms, which is expected
to be opened later in the year to provide for the extension
of the MFA.
In closing sir, may I refer to Mr. Cheong-Leen's
call for accelerated diversification of industry outside
the field of textiles. It is, of course, well known that
for many years the textile sector has represented about
50 per cent of our exports and the same share of industrial
employment. This in itself is a remarkable achievement by
that sector which has been set about by more restrictions
than any other. Mr. Tien has drawn our attention, however,
to the fact that in the first five months of 1977 when,
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