TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1981
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+YOUR FRIENDS IN THE RETAIL BUSINESS WANT TO BUY IT BUT YOUR POLITICIANS HAVE DUG INTO THE PORK BARREL FOR YOUR MANUFACTURERS WHO THINK THEY ARE HURT BY US.
+YOU WILL SEE HOW RIDICULOUS IS THE CRY OF PAIN FROM YOUR TEXTILE PEOPLE WHEN YOU REALISE THAT AMERICAN IMPORTS FROM HONG KONG CONSTITUTE A TINY 1.5 PER CENT OF US CONSUMPTION IN VOLUME WHEREAS US INDUSTRY SUPPLIES 87 PER CENT OF US CONSUMPTION.
HONG KONG'S IMPORTS OF FABRICS ALSO VASTLY EXCEEDED OUR EXPORTS. +OUR IMPORTS OF FABRICS AT 1.5 BILLION SQUARE YARDS ARE AROUND 90 PER CENT THE VALUE OF TOTAL US IMPORTS, HE SAID, ADDING, *WE ARE FIVE MILLION PEOPLE, YOU ARE 200 MILLION. +
EVEN
+IN GOOD ADAM SMITH OR MILTON FRIEDMAN ECONOMICS WE CAN SURELY ARGUE THAT YOU SHOULD NOT SHUT OUT THE ONE THING WE CAN MAKE, THAT YOU WANT, BECAUSE WE ARE SUCH A USEFUL MARKET. IF YOU GET DOWN TO THE NARROW FIELD OF TEXTILES AND GARMENTS, DOES
T MAKE SENSE TO CLOBBER US ON OUR SALES OF APPAREL WHILE TRYING TO SELL US FABRICS?+ HE ASKED.
MR BRAY SAID HONG KONG HAD BECOME A FINANCIAL CENTRE EVEN THOUGH IT HAD NEVER OFFERED INDUCEMENTS, TAX HOLIDAYS OR ANY SUCH CONCESSIONS.
+WE WELCOME ANYONE WHO CAN MAKE MONEY - AND BE TAXED 16.5 PER CENT, HE SAID,
WHILE HONG KONG WAS NO TAX HAVEN, HE ADDED, IT OFFERED IMPARTIALLY-ADMINISTERED LAW, POLITICAL STABILITY, QUITE EXCELLENT, RAPID AND EFFICIENT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS, AND A CONGENIAL SOCIETY.
NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT AND PROBLEMS
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THE NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IS SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF FINDING HOMES AND WORK FOR OUR PEOPLE, BUT CREATING PROBLEMS TOO.
SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID THIS TODAY (TUESDAY) AT A LUNCHEON HOSTED BY THE HEUNG YEE KÜK,
HE SAID HE HAD BEEN TRYING TO IMAGINE THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH GAVE RISE TO THE FORMATION OF THE FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURAL, INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATIONS IN 1923 AND THEN THE HEUNG YEE KUK IN 1926.
+THERE WAS A STABLE PATTERN OF LIFE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES IN THE 1920S, THE PASSING OF THE SEASONS AND THE OUTLOOK FOR THE RICE HARVEST THE MAIN SOURCES OF CONCERN- THE PROSPERITY OF TOWN AND VILLAGE ALIKE WAS CLOSELY TIED TO THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF CROPS AND THE PRICE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE, HE SAID.
/LIFE I