40
Wednesday, October 17, 1973
Nevertheless we find this development a most disquieting one, and we have
left Her Majesty's Government in no doubt as to the strength of our feeling
on this subject in Hong Kong. We regard this issue as an open one on which
adjustments could and should be sought in the course of annual reviews.
Against this background of so many difficulties it is encouraging
that the value of our domestic exports alone in the first eight months of
this year was 21% up in value on the same eight months of 1972, and let
us remember that this is an export-led economy. Even allowing for inflation of
values, it was a remarkable result. It would appear that real as the
difficulties have been, they have affected different sectore in different
ways and to different degrees. Some exporters have found their expansion
slowed down by export restraints, for instance in the United States. Others
have found increased opportunities in other markets or in other lines. Our
business with the E.E.C. has substantially increased, and there are prospects of a more liberal attitude towards imports in Japan. Similarly, changes in international parities have brought loss in some markets, but opened up
new opportunities in others. Making allowance for such shifting patterns
of light and shade I find the general picture, the picture that affecta
Hong Kong as a whole, an encouraging one. It is remarkable that in the face
of so many problems and uncertainties expansion should still have continued. This gives solid ground for hope that the ingenuity of our exporters and their labour force, the hard-headedness of our official negotiators, and the sheor demand for Hong Kong's goods can continue to combine to ensure the
expansion of our economy.
/And 60,