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DRAFT SPEECH BY HON. FRANCIS Y.H. TIEN, ODE, JE
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 27.7.77
Fresent Cutlook of Hong Kong's Textile & Garment Industry
Sir,
I am sure Honourable Members of this Council will
forgive me for reminding them that exports of textiles and garments have traditionally been one of the mainstays of our
economy.
Even to-day, such exports account for approximately 50% of our total exports and provide employment for about half of
our manufacturing workforce.
A
That the importance of this industry has not grown over the years is due largely to the success of our local industrialists in diversifying into other fields a process which makes a lot of economic sense in its own right and to the fact that an increasing number and severity of restraints
have been forced upon us in respect of our exports of textiles
and garments ever since the early 1960's.
Due to our economic circumstances, particularly the scarcity of land and the absence of natural resources, fairly stringent limitations are thus imposed on both the scope and the rate of diversification of our manufacturing industry.
I have no doubt, however, that the tertile and garment
industry will continue to be most important for some considerable time yet and that its fortunes will have an important bearing on Hong Kong's economic development as a whole.
It is against this background that I feel constrained
to draw the attention of this Council to the difficulties which
the textile and garment industry is now facing.
According to provisional trade statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department, our exports of textiles
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