INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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were aimed at strengthening high-level contacts with senior government officials and business and industrial leaders of the host countries and developing trade promotional opportunities.
Other promotional projects mounted during the year included a major fashion promotion at the IGEDO International Fashion Fair in Dusseldorf, and participation in many inter- national trade fairs around the world - notably, the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, Cologne International Houseware Fair, MACEF International Fair in Milan, Birmingham International Spring Fair, British Toy and Hobby Fair, Frankfurt Spring Fair, SPOGA International Trade Fair in Cologne, Chicago Consumer Electronics Show, New York Premium Show, New York International Fur Fair, Cairo International Trade Fair, Tokyo International Toy Fair and the Eastern-Stoff and Total Fashion Fair.
The Trade Development Council organised business group visits to Basle to promote watches and jewellery, and to the Middle East to sell general consumer products. Groups also toured European countries and several African countries as well as the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. Inward missions were also arranged for groups of business- men from Britain, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Panama.
In Hong Kong, the council organised the annual Toy and Gift Fair in October.
The Trade Development Council produces four regular publications, mainly for circula- tion overseas. They are the monthly Hong Kong Enterprise, the half-yearly Hong Kong Apparel, the annual Hong Kong Toys and the two-monthly news magazine Hong Kong Trader.
Besides its headquarters in Hong Kong, with a local branch office in Tsuen Wan, the council maintains overseas offices in 19 key commercial cities London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Paris, Marseilles, Stockholm, Zurich, Vienna, Milan, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Panama City, Tokyo and Sydney. In addition to maintaining these offices, the council retains consultants in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Spain and Greece.
Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation
Whether to give credit in today's sometimes uncertain overseas markets can be a difficult decision for Hong Kong's exporters. However, a form of safeguard in Hong Kong is pro- vided by the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC).
This government-owned organisation provides support and encouragement to Hong Kong's exporters by offering them protection against the risk of not being paid by their overseas clients for goods and services sold on credit.
An exporter can face problems of non-payment because of either commercial, political or economic risks. Commercial risks cover such areas as an overseas client's inability or unwillingness to pay owing to insolvency, repudiation of the contract, or default. Political and economic risks include war, revolution, strikes, foreign exchange blockage and transfer delay, and cancellation of import licences which prevent the client from making payment to his Hong Kong supplier.
The ECIC covers all manner of short term credits and payment methods such as open account invoices, documents against acceptance, documents against payment, and a range of letters of credit, up to a maximum credit period of 180 days after delivery. The corpora- tion's protection is also available for the sale abroad of capital and semi-capital goods sold on medium or long-term credit with instalments over five years or longer.
The corporation provides its clients with a credit control service, and checks, through its international credit information network, the credit rating of all overseas buyers and its