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run prudent budget surpluses for a number of years,
sufficient to allow borrowing if major projects
require it. Public sector spending is reined in at
16-17% of Gross Domestic Product. And, proof of the
pudding, per capita GDP of US$9,600 in 1988 gives our
people a standard of living second in Asia only to
Japan.
Hong Kong has always been an international city,
both in outlook and in composition. Never more so
than today, Trade has made our businessmen major
players in the outside world. Foreign investment has
made us more cosmopolitan.
Our open economy, our location and our superb
communications have attracted foreign investors from
all over the world. We have now 136 overseas
incorporated banks in Hong Kong, ten of them run as
regional headquarters. 36,000 workers are employed in
factories wholly or partly owned by American
interests alone. And the influence of many nations is
felt in educational links and in the performers and
artists who daily grace our world class concert
halls, stages and exhibition centres. Our new
convention and exhibition centre plays host to the
world and is booked solid to 1992.