China but financed out of Hong Kong
a testimony to the
entrepreneurship and imagination of Mr Gordon Wu. It was, of
course, particularly gratifying, that this contract was secured
by GEC Alsthom.
This might then be a good point to touch on the performance of
British firms in Hong Kong. We are doing rather well. Last year
we sold over four times as much to Hong Kong as we sell direct
to China and almost half as much as we sell to Japan which has
an economy 49 times the size of Hong Kong's. This export
performance lifted Hong Kong from being our eighteenth largest
export market to our fifteenth. We sell more to Hong Kong than
we do to India or Australia or, indeed, to two of our European
Community partners. OECD statistics show us to be the leading
European exporter to Hong Kong. Yes our share of total trade has
gone down in recent years. But this does not reflect a poorer UK
performance but, instead, the rapid growth of Hong Kong's trade
with China and the growing importance of intra-regional trade.
This year we have got off to a particularly spectacular start
with increases of over 30% in exports over last year.
I was delighted by the success of those UK companies which formed
part of the Anglo-Japanese consortium that
that recently won the
contract for the Lantau Fixed Crossing, a major element in the
airport project. This more than anything else clearly
demonstrates the international competitiveness of UK companies
bidding for business of this kind. I must emphasise that neither
we in the British Government nor British companies look for any
favours from the Hong Kong Government in the award of major