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I think that there are two similarities between Britain and
Kong Kong which are often overlooked.
Both have dense populations living
close to the sea and both have had to trade in order to survive. It is
not therefore surprising that over many years we have become partners in
trade.
Any trading nation has to produce goods and services that people
want to buy, in order to earn its living. Britain has of course managed to
do this over a long period, but I think we ought to pay tribute to Hong Kong's
conspicuous success in generating an increasingly high standard of living,
not by producing cheap basic goods, but by taking exactly the opposite road
and going progressively for more and more sophisticated high-technology
products. To have done this in the teeth of such fierce world-wide com-
petition and to have sustained such a high rate of growth, only briefly
interrupted by the recession of 1974/75, surely displays managerial skill
and entrepreneurial spirit of an unusually high order. These are qualities
which I may say are still very much admired in Britain even if they may
have seemed to be somewhat dormant in recent years. They are I assure
you by no means defunct, as a look at almost any of our major exporting
companies would quickly remind you.
On the United Kingdom's side I think that we can certainly take
pride in our record over the years, both in providing a substantial outlet
for Hong Kong's products as well as in assisting Hong Kong to open up new
markets. In fact since 1971 the territory's exports to Britain, which last
year reached over 450 million pounds sterling, have multiplied almost three-
fold. For Hong Kong, Britain must be rated a highly important market, taking
as she does roughly 10% of your exports, and I have no doubt it will remain
so for many years to come. Hong Kong must of course trade to survive and
Britain, with its established overseas representation, will continue
wherever possible to assist Hong Kong businessmen to open up third markets.
/Ladies