MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1974.
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NEW TEXTILE AGREEMENT PROTECTS HONG KONG 'S ACCESS
RIGHTS TO WORLD MARKETS
THE NEW ARRANGEMENT COVERING INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN TEXTILES WILL PROTECT HONG KONG'S ACCESS RIGHTS TO WORLD MARKETS AND REDUCE UNCERTAINTY, THE DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, MR. JIMMY MCGREGOR, SAID TODAY.
HE POINTED OUT THAT HONG KONG WAS NOW PARTICIPATING IN A MORE SECURE AGREEMENT AFTER MANY YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY ARISING FROM THE APPLICATION OF +SOMETIMES UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS+ ON OUR TEXTILE EXPORTS BY COUNTRIES WHICH WERE ABLE TO USE IMPRECISE DEFINITIONS AND PROVISIONS WITHIN AN INADEQUATE INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENT.
+THE NEW MULTI-FIBRE TEXTILES AGREEMENT SHOULD PROVIDE THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG WITH A MUCH GREATER ABILITY TO PLAN FORWARD THAN HAS BEEN THE CASE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, + HE ADDED.
MR. MCGREGOR, WHO WAS SPEAKING AT A LUNCH GIVEN BY THE HONG KONG COTTON SPINNERS ASSOCIATION, SAID HE RECOGNISED THAT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL OUR PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED.
PRICES FLUCTUATE AND INFLATION MADE IT DIFFICULT TO ASSESS THE CONDITIONS OF THE TRADE MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS, EVEN A FEW WEEKS AHEAD. NEVERTHELESS THESE WERE TRADE AND MARKET CONSIDERATIONS WHICH THE INDUSTRY WOULD HAVE TO FACE EVEN IF NO TEXTILE QUOTA RESTRICTIONS EXISTED.
+TO SOME EXTENT THAT IS IN FACT THE POSITION JUST AT PRESENT, + HE SAID. +WE ARE NOT BY ANY MEANS USING ALL OUR TEXTILES QUOTAS AND THE CONSTRAINTS ON OUR EXPORTS OF TEXTILES ARE IMPOSED MORE BY MARKET CONDITIONS THAN BY QUOTA RESTRICTIONS.
+THIS SITUATION IS CERTAINLY NOT NEW AND THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT, AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM, THAT SOME OF THE QUOTA LIMITATIONS ON OUR TRADE ARE UNREALISTIC AND PROBABLY UNNECESSARY.
+THIS IS A SITUATION WHICH IS UNDER PERIODIC REVIEW IN THE DEPARTMENT AND I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT IF OUR INABILITY TO USE PARTICULAR QUOTAS EXTENDS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, WE WILL RESIST THEIR CONTINUATION WHEN 'NEGOTIATIONS FOR THIS PURPOSE FALL DUE.+,
MR. MCGREGOR SAID THAT THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT AND THE GOVERNMENT RECOGNISED THAT THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY WAS THE NUCLEUS OF ALL INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG, AND HE WAS SURE THAT THE CO-ORDINATION AND HARMONY WHICH EXISTS BETWEEN THE INDUSTRY AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE.
OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS, A LONG-STANDING AND SINCERE RELATIONSHIP HAD BEEN BUILT UP BETWEEN THE SPINNERS ASSOCIATION AND THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT, HE SAID.
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THIS HAD CONTRIBUTED A VERY GREAT DEAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY AND TO THE EFFICIENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT IN DEALING WITH THE CONTINUAL FLOW OF PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE EXPORT TRADE OF +THIS HIGHLY IMPORTANT INDUSTRY.+
NOTE TO EDITORS:
COPIES OF THE FULL TEXT OF MR. MCGREGOR'S SPEECH ARE AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE GIS PRESS ROOM 6TH FLOOR, BEACONSFIELD HOUSE.