WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1980
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WITH STABILITY HAS COME MODERNISATION, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT FAR EASTERN COUNTRIES ARE BECOMING LIKE THE WEST - THEY ARE NOT, THEY CLING TO THEIR OWN TRADITIONS. BUT MANY HAVE CARRIED OUT PROGRAMMES OF CONSISTENT AND DRAMATIC GROWTH OVER THE LAST 10 - 15 YEARS. THEY HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING MODERN INDUSTRY AND IMPORTING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND IT IS WORKED WITH WILLING HANDS. INVESTMENT IS FLOWING IN AND FAR EASTERN COUNTRIES ARE NOT ONLY INCREASING THEIR SHARE OF EXISTING MARKETS, BUT ARE BECOMING THEMSELVES NEW MARKETS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. ASIANS WILL TELL YOU THAT THE DYNAMIC CENTRE OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE IS UNDERGOING AN HISTORIC SHIFT FROM WEST TO EAST. THAT MAY BE, SUCH AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATES OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS AS 11 PER CENT IN KOREA, 6 PER CENT IN THE PHILIPPINES, 9 PER CENT IN SINGAPORE, 8 PER CENT IN THAILAND, AND
HOWEVER,
9 PER CENT IN HONG KONG ARE MOUTH-WATERING IN COMPARISON TO THE 4 PER CENT OF OECD COUNTRIES. CERTAINLY THE FAR EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIA IS AN AREA IN WHICH OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS. IT HAS BEEN DOING SO FOR SOMETIME, BUT IN RECENT YEARS WITH GROWING INS ISTENCE AND ITS SUMMONS IS BEGINNING TO BE HEARD.
I THINK THE MOST DECISIVE SINGLE FACTOR IN THIS REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN EASTERN MARKETS HAS AGAIN BEEN THE EMERGENCE IN CHINA OF A NEW LEADERSHIP. ITS NEW ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL POLICIES HAVE AROUSED INTENSE INTEREST ALL OVER THE WORLD, WHILE THE MODERNISATION OF CHINA MAY NOT DEVELOP ON THE GROUND AS FAST AS SOME EXPECTED, LIKE MANY OTHERS I SEE THESE NEW POLICIES AS THE BEGINNING OF ONE OF THE GREAT HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS OF OUR TIME. THIS PROSPECT HAS STIMULATED NEW INTEREST IN THE AREA AS A WHOLE BOTH IN THE MARKETS OF INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES, AND ALSO INTEREST IN SUITABLE PLATFORMS, AS IT WERE, FROM WHICH TO TRADE WITH THEM AND WITH THE NEW CHINA THAT IS EMERGING AND WILL CONTINUE TO EMERGE OVER THE COMING DECADES.
AND THIS BRINGS ME BACK TO HONG KONG, BECAUSE THERE IT IS, ONLY 16 HOURS FLIGHT TIME AWAY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS GROWTH AREA, RIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF ITS SEABORNE AND AIRBORNE COMMUNICATIONS, A MAJOR MARKET AS WELL AS AN INDUSTRIAL AND FINANCIAL CENTRE, AND WITH THE CLOSEST CONNECTIONS WITH ENORMOUS DEVELOPING CHINA. AND WHAT MEAN BY THAT RATHER BUREAUCRATIC PHRASE IS THAT MOST PEOPLE IN HONG KONG SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE AS CHINA, HAVE RELATIONS THERE, AND VISIT THEM REGULARLY, BUT UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN TO HONG KONG YOU WILL NOT KNOW THE EXTRAORDINARY VIGOUR AND WILL TO GET ON THAT POSITIVELY RADIATES FROM ITS PEOPLE. IT IS EXHILARATING TO LIVE WITH SUCH PEOPLE WITH THEIR BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS AND HARBOUR. ONE FEELS THEY WILL NOT SINK UNDER PROBLEMS BUT SURMOUNT THEM, AND PROBLEMS THERE ARE, LARGELY RESULTING FROM OVER-POPULATION AND OVER-IMMIGRATION, BUT HONG KONG CONTINUALLY AND BUCYANTLY RISES TO MEET THEM. HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE MAY EE LARGELY DEPENDENT ON EXTERNAL ECONOMIC POLITICAL FORCES, BUT THEY ARE UNDETERRED BY THEM BECAUSE THEY KACA THEM WELL AND BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE HONG KONG HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER.