LLD,
JP
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON LYDIA DUNN, CBE,
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 7 JANUARY 1987
Sir,
INTRODUCTION
HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 1985/86
Tabled today is the Annual Report of the Trade Development Council for the financial year 1985/86.
During the period under review, 1st April 1985 to 31st March 1986, Hong Kong's total trade increased by 2%. modest growth was attained despite an unusually difficult climate for international trade. Although our imports and re-exports increased, our domestic exports declined by 6%.
This
Not surprisingly, therefore, there was a greater demand by the manufacturing sector for our promotional assistance and services. The Council adopted a two-pronged strategy of intensifying our efforts to boost the sale of Hong Kong products in the established markets of North America and Europe, and exploring and developing new frontiers such as Japan and China. We lost no time in taking advantage of the announcement in Japan in mid-1985 about measures to open its markets to more imports and we organised four selling missions to various cities in Japan covering products ranging from jewellery to cameras and binoculars. In China, we opened our first office in the mainland in Beijing and we plan to open a second office in Shanghai later this year.
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