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CONFIDENTIAL
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foundation for everything we are trying to
Like many of our neighbours in
achieve.
Asia, Hong Kong's economic success in the
past 40 years was based on trade with
Europe and North America.
These markets
remain important to us. But it is trade
with our neighbours in Asia which is now
giving our economy its dynamism:
Hong
Kong's
regional trade
expanded by an average of 18% in
real terms during the 1980s. For
1990 and 1991, the annual average
has been 16%.
Regional trade now
accounts for
about 62% of our
total trade;
of course, this is simply a part
In
of a more general phenomenon.
Intra-Asian trade as a whole grew
rapidly during the 1980s.
fact, the growth of internal
trade in Asia has been on average
twice as fast as trade with North
America and Europe;
CONFIDENTIAL