76
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
by the Trade and Industry Advisory Committee, a committee representative of the Colony's merchant and industrial community. The status of the Committee is being changed to that of a Board on 1st January 1959.
The Trade Promotion Branch of the Commerce and Industry Department, which is responsible for organizing Colony participa- tion in overseas trade fairs, also publishes and distributes overseas a monthly illustrated Trade Bulletin' partly financed by local advertisers. At the end of the year local circulation was 1,500, while 7,000 copies were being distributed free to readers overseas. The 1958 edition of the Department's 'Commerce, Industry and Finance Directory' was published in May. This Directory is a comprehensive guide to Hong Kong business in its economic and administrative setting. The 1959 edition will be published in the spring.
The Trade Promotion Branch also maintains a trade reference library and a display room where samples of local products are on show for the benefit of both overseas visitors and members of the public.
One important function of the branch is to deal with trade inquiries from abroad and to arrange factory visits for overseas visitors or meetings between them and local trade bodies or representatives. During the year arrangements of this nature were made for trade missions from the Sudan and San Francisco, several Members of Parliament, and officials from Malaya, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.
The Commerce and Industry Department considerably extended its market research services during the year.
Documentation of Origin. Hong Kong is traditionally an entrepôt so that, in the world of regulated trade, certification of the origin of the products which it sells has become increasingly a matter of importance. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manu- facturers' Association and the Indian Chamber of Commerce issue certificates of Hong Kong or other origin which are acceptable in varying degree to overseas authorities. The majority of overseas au- thorities requiring certificates of Hong Kong origin stipulate those issued by the Commerce and Industry Department. Possessing