INDUSTRY AND TRADE
95
of trade promotion traditionally associated with govern- ments, but which are not widely known to the public. Governmental participation in the promotion of Hong Kong's trade is more evident in the arranging of Colony exhibits at trade fairs and the production of trade publicity material. In the conduct of all these matters the Director of Commerce and Industry is ably assisted by the Trade and Industry Advisory Committee, a committee representative of the Colony's merchant and industrial community.
Hong Kong participated in the United States World Trade Fair in New York in April. The Hong Kong stand, with nearly 1,000 items displayed, had a most businesslike appear- ance and attracted a vast number of visitors. Special pam- phlets were prepared for hand-out to buyers and the public. The official Hong Kong delegation to the Fair was led-by Mr. U Tat Chee, O.B.E., J.P. and the Chinese Manu- facturers' Association of Hong Kong also sent a large delegation. As usual it was difficult to make any defiñite estimate of the contribution which the exhibit might have made to the value of the Colony's export trade, but there was a noticeable increase in the level of exports to the United States towards the end of the year.
In September Hong Kong displayed its products for the second time at the Frankfurt International Autumn Trade Fair. The Colony's exhibit, housed in a large pavilion shared with Ceylon, was almost three times as large as that for the previous year. A successful innovation was the allocation of half the area solely for sample display purposes, both Government and commercial, leaving the remaining area for a prestige display of selected high quality products. The layout of the exhibit was generally conceded to be a considerable technical advance on anything hitherto attempted. In addition to direct orders placed with repre- sentatives of individual firms which rented alcoves in the pavilion for display of their own products, approximately