TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1979
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HK'S GROWING GARMENT INDUSTRY MEANS GOOD PROSPECTS FOR UK TEXTILE EXPORTS *****
THE HONG KONG COMMISSIONER IN LONDON, MR. DENIS BRAY, TOLD THE WOOL TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS FEDERATION AT THE IR ANNUAL DINNER IN LEEDS, UK, LAST FRIDAY (DECEMBER 14) THAT A VIGOROUSLY GROWING GARMENT INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG WAS GOOD FOR THEIR EXPORT PROSPECTS.
HE SAID: +ALTHOUGH WE EXPORT AN APPRECIABLE VOLUME OF TEXTILES WE IMPORT FAR MORE TEXTILES THAN WE EXPORT.
+WE ARE THE THIRD LARGEST NET IMPORTER OF TEXTILES IN THE WORLD, AND WHEN IT COMES TO WOOL, WE BUY BRITISH. IN 1978, HONG KONG WAS BRITAIN'S LARGEST EXPORT MARKET FOR FABRICS OF SYNTHETIC FIBRE MIXED WITH WOOL, AND FOURTH LARGEST FOR WORSTED CLOTH.
+THE MARKET FOR YOUR TEXTILES IS OUR GARMENT INDUSTRY.
WE ARE THE WORLD'S LARGEST NET EXPORTER OF GARMENTS. IN 1978, WE EXPORTED 1 500 MILLION POUNDS WORTH OF GARMENTS, DOUBLE THE AMOUNT WE EXPORTED FIVE YEARS AGO.
+WE EXPORT OUR CLOTHING MAINLY TO AMERICA, GERMANY AND BRITAIN. OF COURSE, WE SHOULD LIKE TO EXPORT MORE TO THESE PLACES, AND CONSUMERS IN ALL OF THEM WOULD LIKE TO BUY MORE, BUT OUR EXPORTS ARE UNDER RESTRAINT. IN 1977, FIRST THE AMERICANS, THEN THE EEC IMPOSED THE TOUGHEST RESTRICTIONS WE HAVE SEEN YET THE EEC CUTTING QUOTA OF SOME OF OUR PRINCIPAL EXPORTS BY ANYTHING UP TO 30 PER CENT BELOW THE ACTUAL LEVEL OF TRADE IN 1976.
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+OUR EXPORTS OF WOOLLEN CLOTHING TO AMERICA, OUR BIGGEST MARKET, HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED BY THE MFA, PARTICULARLY SINCE THE END OF 1978. THE EFFECT OF THESE AND SIMILAR RESTRICTIONS OVER THE YEARS HAS BEEN TO FORCE US TO TRADE UP. IF YOU CAN ONLY SELL 100 SHORTS THEN YOU MIGHT AS WELL SELL THE 40 POUND VARIETY AS THE CHEAP ONES. WE BUY THE SHORTS WE WEAR FROM CHINA.
+ IN BRITAIN, THE SO-CALLED GLOBAL RESTRICTIONS OF THE MF A HAVE NOT STOPPED IMPORTS OF GARMENTS BECAUSE, OF COURSE, THEY ARE NOT GLOBAL. INDEED, GARMENT IMPORTS ARE AT A RECORD LEVEL. THE RESTRICTIONS HAVE, HOWEVER, LED TO THE DISPLACEMENT OF EXPORTS FROM POORER PLACES LIKE HONG KONG BY IMPORTS FROM THE RICHER COUNTRIES, BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE EEC.
+YOU MIGHT CONSIDER WHETHER, SINCE THESE GARMENT IMPORTS ARE COMING IN ANYWAY, YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE THEM COME IN FROM HONG KONG MADE WITH BRITISH CLOTH THAN FROM EASTERN OR SCANDINAVIAN. ARE SHIPPING RIGHT UP TO QUOTA THIS YEAR AND THE MFA IS BITING. PRICES OF CLOTHING HAVE BEEN PUSHED UP IN BRITAIN IN FACT, THE WHOLE POINT OF A RESTRICTIVE AGREEMENT LIKE THE MFA IS TO PUSH UP PRICES.
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WE
+QUOTAS ON GARMENT EXPORTS FROM COUNTRIES WHERE INDUSTRIES HAVE REAL GROWTH PROSPECTS ARE BOUND TO ERODE YOUR EXPORT PERFORMANCE IN THE LONG RUN. THE BEST OF BRITISH WOOL TEXTILES ARE OF A QUALITY THAT IS UNCHALLENGED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. YOUR
INTERESTS LIE IN THE GROWTH OF THE WORLD'S GARMENT INDUSTRIES. THE GROWTH GARMENT INDUSTRIES ARE NOT, I AM AFRAID, TO BE FOUND IN THE INDUSTRIALLY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES THEY ARE IN THE LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, AND IT IS THEIR GROWTH YOU SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF.
/+I APPRECIATE