זייי
فيا
3
I have quite often heard it suggested that British businessmen
in general have tended to neglect Hong Kong, either because they imagine it is virtually a captive market anyway and so they needn't make any effort to sell here, or because they greatly under-rate its sophistication and spending power and probably reckon it not worth their attention.
Such views may have been held in the past, and how wrong they
were, but I am reasonably sure they are a good deal less common now. The lesson is gradually being learned that Hong Kong is not just another far distant market with a population of only 4 million people but an exceptionally important and crucial one, not only in its own right, which being among the world's top 20 traders it undoubtedly is, but because of its very special position in regard to other markets of South East Asia who see it as a trading centre and shop window for goods from all over the world. That lesson is being learnt at home but I certainly hope to see more being done to ensure that it gets across.
What I do find encouraging and what has undoubtedly had
considerable effect in stimulating awareness of the potential of this market has been extensive British involvement in major projects in Hong Kong. A British company completed the cross harbour tunnel in 1972, in 1976 we were awarded important contracts for the first stage of the Mass Transit Railway and only recently the General Electric Company received a letter of Intent to supply equipment for the first stage of a proposed new power station for the Kowloon Peninsula. These are projects carrying tremendous prestige both for Hong Kong and for the companies involved in them and I have no doubt that they have opened the eyes of British companies to the expanding prospects for trade with Hong Kong. From the interest shown in our industrial exhibition too I would judge that there are many other areas where British industry and technology can make a solid contribution to Hong Kong's future as a major trading partner.
I think