WEDNESDAY, SEPTEIDER 18, 1974
GOVERNMENT OPTIMISTIC OVER HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC FUTURE MAJOR WORLD SLUMP UNLIKELY, SAYS ACTING FINANCIAL SECRETARY
HONG KONG MAY HAVE TO MAKE SOME DIFFICULT ADJUSTMENTS FOR A WHILE IN VIEW OF CURRENT DIFFICULTIES IN THE WORLD ECOMONY, BUT THE SITUATION IS FAR FROM DISASTROUS, THE ACTING FINANCIAL SECRETARY, MR. DEREK JONES, SAID TODAY.
+IT IS MY BELIEF THAT, AS LONG AS THE WORLD ECONOMY AVOIDS A MAJOR SLUMP, EVEN IF THERE HAS TO BE SCHE ADJUSTMENTS, HONG KONG WILL WEATHER THE SITUATION AS WELL AS ANY -- AND BETTER THAN MOST, HE TOLD A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF BAYVIEW.
MR. JONES DID NOT BELIEVE THAT A MAJOR VORLD SLUMP WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. +NEVERTHELESS, EVEN IN THIS CATASTROPHY, I BELIEVE THAT HONG KONG WOULD STILL FARE BETTER THAN MOST,+ HE SAID.
HE FELT THAT DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES AND UNCERTAINTIES, COMMONSENSE WOULD PREVAIL AND THAT INTERNATIONAL MACHINERY, WHICH WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO STAVE OFF THE WORLD DEPRESSION OF THE 1930S, WOULD BE EFFECTIVELY BROUGHT INTO PLAY. THE NETWORK OF INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN ECONOMIC AFFAIRS WAS MUCH MORE · DEVELOPED THAN IN THE PRE-WAR DAYS AND REMAINS IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.
MR. JONES POINTED OUT THAT, IF THE WORST HAPPENED, HONG KONG WOULD START FROM A POSITION OF RELATIVE STRENGTH. LAST YEAR, HE NOTED, WAS THE BEST YEAR FOR HONG KONG'S ECONOMY WITH EXPORTS RISING IN VOLUME TERNIS BY OVER SEVEN FER CENT AND THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY EIGHT PER CENT IN REAL TERMS.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE WAS INCREASING AND THERE WAS NO WAGE BOOM. +SO OUR UNDERLYING COMPETITIVE POSITION IMPROVED DURING THE YEAR AND IS STILL IMPROVING.+
HOWEVER, MR. JONES RECOGNISED THAT HONG KONG WAS UNL IKELY TO FIND THE GOING AS EASY AS IN RECENT YEARS, PARTICULARLY IF DEMAND IN OUR CHIEF EXPORT HARKETS IS REDUCED.
+THIS WILL DEMAND SKILL ON THE PART OF OUR MANUFACTURERS AND TRADERS — VITH THE HELP OF SUCH BODIES AS THE TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL AND THE HONG KONG TOURIST ASSOCIATION TO SEEK OUT BUSINESS WHERE IT CAN BE FOUND, AS WELL AS PATIENCE ON THE PART OF THE PEOPLE TO LIVE THROUGH A PERIOD WHEN LIVING STANDARDS HAY NOT BE GROWING AS FAST AS IN RECENT YEARS,+ HE SAID.
HE EMPHASISED THAT, IN THE SHORT TERM, TO OVERCOME ITS DIFFICULTIES THE HARD WAY AND BY EARNING ITS WAY OUT OF TROUBLE.
HONG KONG WOULD HAVE
BY SELLING KORE
/GIVEN HONG KONG'S