INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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Hardware Show in Chicago and the New York Premium Show, as well as mounting a 'Made in Hong Kong' exhibition in Miami.
In Europe, the council participated in the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, INHORGENTA and the International Sports Equipment Fair in Munich, the Frankfurt International Spring Fair and the Birmingham Spring Fair as well as mounting an exhibition of watches and jewellery to coincide with the Swiss Industries Fair in Basle.
A variety of Hong Kong business groups under the auspices of the council visited the United States, Europe, China, the Middle East and Japan to enhance old, or establish new, trade contacts. The council also received more than 150 inward missions from more than 30 countries, mostly notably from the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Scandinavia, Japan, the Middle East, Austria, Australia and China.
The council sponsored several economic missions which help develop trade opportunities by strengthening high-level contacts with senior government officials, plus business and industrial leaders. The mission to New York, led by the Governor, and consisting of several members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, was part of a three-in-one event called 'Return of the Fashionable Five-Toed Dragon' which also consisted of a fashion presenta- tion and the council's largest ever product display (more than 3 000 items), all coinciding with the 73rd annual meeting of the National Retail Merchants Association.
In the field of fashion, clothes from leading Hong Kong designers were shown at the above-mentioned event in New York and at Harrods Department Store in London. The latter staged a 'Hong Kong Products' month - which included fashions - through- out the entire store. The council also participated in the Frankfurt Fur Fair as well as the Hungarotex/Tricotex Exhibition (for both knitted and non-knitted goods) in Budapest.
To further promote exports of garments to Japan, the council organised the first- ever Hong Kong Fur Fair in Japan and an in-store garment promotion for the second year running, this time with AIC Inc., in leading department stores throughout the country.
In Hong Kong, the council staged the Women's Sportswear Show and organised its tenth Hong Kong Toy and Gift Fair as well as acting as an adviser to the Hong Kong Electronics Fair and the third Hong Kong Watch and Clock Exhibition. All four were held in October.
The council produces six publications which are distributed to 173 countries. They are the Hong Kong Enterprise, a monthly general products magazine; Hong Kong Household, a monthly featuring household and hardware products; the annual Hong Kong Toys, published each October to coincide with the Hong Kong Toy and Gift Fair; Hong Kong Apparel, a biannual fashion magazine which took top honours in the 1983 British Association of Industrial Editors (BAIE) awards competition; and the Hong Kong Trader, a monthly newspaper (sent airmail) giving news and views of the territory which won the BAIE's 1984 competition. The year also saw the advent of a new publication, Hong Kong Watches and Jewellery, an annual distributed at watch and jewellery trade fairs throughout the world.
The computerised Trade Enquiries Service of the council processed more than 100 000 overseas trade enquiries. The Research Department continued to publish special market surveys and detailed product reports, specifying opportunities in overseas markets for Hong Kong exports.
The council head office moved to larger premises in the Great Eagle Centre in Wan Chai in April. In December, the council signed a contract with a private developer for the