quarters and though there is still far too much unemployment, there is
general relief that the corner has been turned.
There is also
confidence that steady growth will be resumed next year.
"It is perhaps indicative that in the course of last year
Hong Kong let contracts for the biggest highway it has ever constructed,
completed the largest desalination plant in the world and has begun
to build the latest underground railway in the world.
"Some of this confidence in the future is based on an assessment of the
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the Western Pacific
likely trend of economic activity in Hong Kong's markets, some on
knowledge of the current competitiveness of Hong Kong's position.
Though there are no illusions about an early return to the conditions
of the 60's and early 70's, we do believe that Hong Kong is in the
right place at the right time with the right things to offer. It is
on the edge of the biggest country in the world which is itself in
the course of rapid economic development; but also it is in the centre
of an area of the world
where economic growth
is likely to be rapid in the next decade and it occupies a focal point
in the communications and distribution system of the area, It has a
superb harbour, an unrivalled work-force, and financial institutions
of great strength. Land is available on special terms for new
industry judged valuable to the economy. And finally, and perhaps
most important of all, you have a government which provides a stable and
predictable economic environment.
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"It is therefore not surprising that so many leading banks
and manufacturers from all over the world are now represented in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's economy will always be based primarily on manufacture for
export to the great developed countries of North America and Europe,
/and on