1
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1980
EAST ASIA ECONOMIC GROWTH IS OPTIMISTIC
*****
SAYS GOVERNOR
THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE SAID TODAY (FRIDAY) HE REMAINED BASICALLY OPTIMISTIC OF ECONOMIC GROWTH OF EAST ASIA DESPITE THE MANY UNCERTAINTIES WHICH OVERHANG WORLD MARKETS.
ADDRESSING THE INTERTANKO SHIPPING ORGANISATION GENERAL MEETING IN MANILA TODAY, SIR MURRAY SAID CHINA'S NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN AND EUROPE, AND ALSO WITH THE COUNTRIES OF SOUTH EAST ASIA, LIFTED A CLOUD OF UNCERTAINTY WHICH HUNG OVER EAST ASIA FOR SO LONG.
+MOREOVER, THE STATESMANSHIP OF ITS GOVERNMENT'S NEW ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL POLICIES HAVE AROUSED INTEREST AMONG ALL TRADING NATIONS, AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION WILL STEADILY INCREASE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.
+THIS PROSPECT HAS STIMULATED NEW INTEREST IN THE AREA AS A WHOLE, BOTH IN THE COUNTRIES' MARKETS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, AND IN THE IR VALUE AS PLATFORMS FOR TRADING WITH CHINA AND WITH THE WHOLE EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIAN GROWTH AREA.
+FOR THESE AND OTHER REASONS, INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL OF CONTINUED FASTER GROWTH IN THIS AREA IN COMPARISON TO MOST OTHERS, I SHOULD EXPECT INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT AND THE EXPANSION OF THE TERTIARY SECTOR IN THIS AREA TO CONTINUE.
+ THE LAST TWO DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ARE LIKELY TO BE THE ERA OF EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIA,+ HE SAID.
SIR MURRAY NOTED THAT IN THE LAST 15 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH IN MOST OF THE ECONOMIES OF THE FAR EAST CITING AS EXAMPLES THE EIGHT PER CENT GROWTH RATE IN JAPAN, 11 PER CENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, SIX PER CENT IN THE PHILIPPINES, NINE PER CENT IN SINGAPORE, EIGHT PER CENT IN THAILAND AND NINE PER CENT IN HONG KONG, COMPARED WITH THE FOUR PER CENT GROWTH RATE
IN EUROPE.
HE ATTRIBUTED SUCH DYNAMIC ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE REGION TO A GENERAL WILLINGNESS TO WORK AND WORK HARD, TO THE BUSINESS ACUMEN OF SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE REGION, AND TO THAT PIONEER SPIRIT WHICH HAS DRIVEN THEM TO ACQUIRE THE EXPERTISE TO ENABLE THEM TO EXPLOIT THE POTENTIAL OF WHEREVER IT IS THEY MAY BE LIVING, AND TO MASTER THE TECHNIQUES NECESSARY FOR THEM TO GO ABROAD AND TO SEARCH OUT MARKETS FOR THEIR PRODUCTS AND THEIR SERVICES AND WHEN NECESSARY FOR THEM TO ACQUIRE INVESTMENT.
+THIS DRIVING ENTERPRISE HAS BEEN AIDED BY DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS WHICH HAVE TENDED IN SOME CASES TO CAUSE LABOUR FORCES TO GROW AT A HIGHER RATE THAN POPULATIONS AS A WHOLE, A TREND WHICH, AT A CERTAIN STAGE, TENDS TO STIMULATE ECONOMIC GROWTH, HE SAID.
SIR MURRAY ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH ACHIEVED BY HONG KONG SINCE THE EARLY 1950'S WAS BASED ON THE DETERMINATION OF ITS PEOPLE TO SURVIVE AGAINST ALL ODDS.
HE SAID THE REASONS FOR HONG KONG'S SUCCESS LAY IN A COMBINATION OF MOST OF THE FACTORS LEADING TO THE SUCCESS OF THE EAST ASIA REGION AS A WHOLE BOTH IN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPPING.
/+THE GOVELI