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Visitors viewing Hong Kong and its bee-hive of
building sites for the first time have been heard to say:
"It will be nice when its finished." Beware, we've only
just started! We enjoy building. The utilitarian designs of
the sixties and early seventies are now giving way to more
self-conscious architecture. Our corporations are building
offices, hotels and commercial centres to rival the rest of
the world. If you will forgive an East coast comparison, we
have become Manhattan with mountains.
Once the new airport is open, the site of the old
can be redeveloped. The height restrictions along the
flight path can also be lifted. This will allow for the
complete replanning of a huge area of the city. Work on
this has begun; our plans take us well into the next
century.
These developments are a response to the rapid
growth of the Pacific basin economy. Inevitably they will
tie us more closely to you. The links are already strong.
Some 900 American firms are at work in Hong Kong, 54 of
them California based multinationals. IBM, Mobil Oil,
Exxon, Eastman Kodak, Xerox and Du Pont are all old friends
of Hong Kong. 3M have just decided to increase their
investment by US$4million. Motorola are building their
"Silicon Harbour". Those with regional headquarters in Hong
Kong include Bristol Myer, Bausch and Lomb, Unisys, Dow