and on a downward trend.
DSR 11C
Of course, much remains to be done. But though the pace
is more hesitant than we would like to see, the pattern
of improvements is encouraging. A greater realism on
the part of those involved is emerging, a heightened
sense of the links between sensible pay settlements,
productivity, unemployment and the creation of lasting
jobs. A successful trading community such as here in
Hong Kong needs no reminding of these links. But we have
had to reforge the chain; reforge it through our
overall economic policies and the climate they create,
through our control of public spending and borrowing,
through our constant encouragement to management
and unions to learn the lessons of competitiveness
and performance as the key to success. In short, that
the world does not owe them or the United Kingdom a
living.
So much for the general picture. You have in Hong Kong
always had a concern for the recreation of enterprise,
for the emergence of new firms and sectors which reflect
the changing circumstances in your own environment and
that which faces you in other economies. We too have
always been aware of the changes in the patterns of
industrial activity flowing from the constant evolution
of our economies, Western and Eastern, and the need to
ensure that our own economy evolves in response.
Innovation and enterprise are keys to that evolution,
/We
Page 60Page 61