WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1977
UNOFFICIALS CONCERNED OVER TEXTILE AND GARMENT INDUSTRY ******
THE HON. FRANCIS TIEN TODAY EXPRESSED CONCERN OVER THE PRESENT OUTLOOK OF HONG KONG'S TEXTILE AND GARMENT INDUSTRY AND HIGHLIGHTED SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES NOW FACING THE INDUSTRY.
QUOTING TRADE STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE CENSUS AND
STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, MR. TIEN POINTED OUT THAT THERE WAS A DECLINE IN VALUE TERMS OF NEARLY 9 PER CENT IN THE EXPORT OF TEXTILES AND GARMENTS IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS THIS YEAR COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, FROM $6,690 MILLION TO $6,100 MILLION.
IN QUANTITY TERMS, MR. TIEN SAID, THE DECLINE WAS EVEN MORE MARKED. IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 1977, WE WERE ABLE TO SHIP, IN OVERALL TERMS, ONLY 44 PER CENT OF OUR ANNUAL QUOTA FOR THE UNITED STATES AND 30 PER CENT FOR THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY.+
AND COMPARING THE VOLUME OF SHIPMENT OF RESTRAINED ITEMS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR WITH LAST YEAR, THERE HAS BEEN A MARGINAL INCREASE OF 4.5 PER CENT FOR THE US MARKET, BUT SHARP DECLINES OF 31 PER CENT FOR GERMANY, 25 PER CENT FOR THE UK AND 25 PER CENT FOR THE EEC AS A WHOLE, HE SAID.
HE NOTED THAT THE SPINNING SECTOR HAD, FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, BEEN OPERATING AT LESS THAN 70 PER CENT OF INSTALLED CAPACITY, THE WEAVING SECTOR AT ABOUT 50 PER CENT CAPACITY AND WHILE INFORMATION WAS NOT READILY AVAILABLE, SOME GARMENT MANUFACTURERS WERE ALSO EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTIES.
ON THE BASIS OF THESE FACTS AND FIGURES THE PROGNOSIS FOR 1977 DID NOT LOOK TOO BRIGHT AND THE FUTURE WAS BY NO MEANS ROSY WHEN ASSESSED IN RELATION TO CERTAIN RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, HE SAID.
+REGRETTABLY, SOME OF OUR TRADING PARTNERS, IN AN ATTEMPT TO PROTECT THE IR OWN DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES, HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE UNILATERAL MEASURES WHICH ARE INCONSISTENT WITH BOTH THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THE MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT, AN INTERNATIONALLY AGREED FRAMEWORK FOR THE REGULATION OF TRADE IN TEXTILES,+ MR. TIEN SAID, GIVING AS EXAMPLES MEASURES TAKEN BY AUSTRALIA AND CANADA AND RECENTLY FRANCE AND THE EEC WHICH WERE AS YET UNCLEAR.
+THESE, ONE MAY SAY, ARE MERELY ISOLATED INSTANCES BUT TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE IMPOSITIONS HAVE CERTAINLY CAUSED GREAT ANXIETY IN THE TEXTILE AND GARMENT INDUSTRY PARTICULARLY WHEN SUCH DEVELOPMENTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AT A TIME WHEN THE VERY FUTURE OF THE MFA ITSELF, WHICH EXPIRES AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, WAS BEING DEBATED INTERNATIONALLY, HE SAID.
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REFERRING TO EFFORTS BY SOME IMPORTING COUNTRIES IN PARTICULAR THE EEC, FOR MORE STRINGENT RESTRICTIONS, MR. TIEN SAID + IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WHAT THE EEC REALLY WANTS IS TO BE ABLE TO RESTRICT IMPORTS FROM SO-CALLED LOW COST SUPPLIERS' AS A GROUP, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER EACH OF THEM INDIVIDUALLY IS CAUSING OR THREATENING MARKET DISRUPTION.+
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ALIC