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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Measures Branch responsible for up-dating current legislation on weights and measures and subsequent implementation; and an Exhibition Centre Branch responsible for the management of an overseas consultancy for the planning of an international exhibition centre in Hong Kong.
External Trade
Total merchandise trade in 1982 amounted to $270,277 million, an increase of four per cent over 1981. Imports went up by three per cent to $142,893 million; domestic exports by three per cent to $83,032 million and re-exports by six per cent to $44,353 million. Domestic exports and re-exports together, valued at $127,385 million, registered an increase of four per cent. Appendices 3 and 4 provide summary statistics of external trade.
Hong Kong is almost entirely dependent on imported resources to meet the needs of its population of over five million and its diverse industries. In 1982, imports of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods totalled $56,444 million, representing 40 per cent of total imports. The principal items imported were fabrics of man-made fibres ($6,068 million), iron and steel ($4,035 million), woven cotton fabrics ($3,657 million), transistors, diodes, semi-conductors and integrated circuits ($3,528 million), watch and clock movements, cases and parts ($3,437 million), and plastic moulding materials ($2,828 million).
Imports of consumer goods, valued at $38,614 million, constituted 27 per cent of total imports. The major consumer goods imported were clothing ($6,464 million), diamonds ($3,660 million), radios, television sets, gramophones, records and tape recorders ($2,984 million), watches ($2,724 million), jade and precious stones, ivory, jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares ($1,580 million).
Imports of capital goods amounted to $19,943 million, or 14 per cent of total imports. Imported capital goods consisted mainly of transport equipment ($3,600 million), electrical machinery ($2,674 million), electronic components and parts for machines ($2,591 million), office machines ($1,263 million), and industrial machinery other than electrical and textile machinery ($1,073 million).
Imports of foodstuffs were valued at $16,785 million, representing 12 per cent of total imports. The principal imported food items were fish and fish preparations ($2,697 million), fruit ($2,252 million), meat and meat preparations ($2,024 million), and vegetables ($1,907 million).
Some $11,107 million of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials were imported in 1982, representing eight per cent of total imports.
China and Japan were the two principal suppliers of imports in 1982, providing 23 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, of the total; China alone supplied 47 per cent of Hong Kong's imported foodstuffs. The United States ranked third, providing 11 per cent of total imports, followed by Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea and West Germany.
Clothing remained the largest component of domestic exports in 1982, valued at $28,824 million or 35 per cent of the total. Exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles, consisting mainly of plastic toys and dolls, jewellery and goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other plastic articles, were valued at $15,589 million, representing 19 per cent of total domestic exports. Photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies, optical goods, watches and clocks amounted to $8,148 million, or 10 per cent of the total. Domestic exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, valued at $6,055 million, contributed another seven per cent of the total. Other important exports included telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment