CONFIDENTIAL #2
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(ii) with regard to investment in
the plastics industry, sales
by three major local suppliers
of plastic injection moulding
machines recorded a decline of
25% in value terms in the
third quarter of 1988 over a
year earlier. It was
estimated that up to 40% of
the local sales of such
machines were for eventual
delivery to factories in China.
(iii) With regard to investment in
the textiles industry, a major supplier of dyeing machinery reported a drop in business in the third quarter compared
with the same quarter last
year. Concurrently, the sole
agent of a popular brand of
computerised knitting machines
reported that its sales in the
first three quarters of 1988
were only half of those for
1987 as a whole.
(iv) The momentum of investment in the electronics industry
continued into the third
quarter, in line with the
sustained growth in domestic
exports of electronic
products.
It is likely that
G.F. 326
CONFIDENTIAL # 3