MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1982
4
US IS HK'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER, VISITORS TOLD
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GIVEN HONG KONG'S FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENT AND TRADITIONAL RELIANCE ON MARKET FORCES, IT WAS PERHAPS INEVITABLE THAT THE UNITED STATES, AS THE DOMÍNANT WORLD ECONOHY AND LARGEST SINGLE CONSUMER MARKET, SHOULD BE OUR LARGEST TRADING PARTNER, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, MR JOHN BREMRIDGE, SAID TODAY (MONDAY).
WELCOMING A MARKETING MISSION TO HONG KONG BY THE AMERICAN TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS INSTITUTE AT A LUNCH GIVEN BY HONG KONG GARMENT MANUFACTURERS, MR BREMRIDGE SAID: THE TOTAL VALUE OF THIS TWO-WAY TRADE IN 1981 AMOUNTED TO OVER US$8.5 BILLION, WHICH REPRESENTED ABOUT 19 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S TRADE WITH THE WORLD. THE UNITED STATES IS HONG KONG'S LARGEST MARKET. YOU TOOK 36 PER CENT OF OUR EXPORTS IN 1981. AND THE UNITED STATES IS THE THIRD LARGEST SOURCE OF IMPORTS, SUPPLYING 10 PËR CENT OF THEM IN 1981.+
STRESSING THAT TEXTILES AND GARMENTS HAVE BEEN A MAINSTAY OF HONG KONG'S EXPORT-ORIENTED ECONOMY, AND THAT 35 PER CENT OF OUR EXPORTS TO THE US COMPRISED TEXTILES AND GARMENTS MR BREMRIDGE SAID THAT IN RECENT YEARS A DETERMINED EFFORT HAD BEEN MADE TO ENCOURAGE OTHER INDUSTRIES TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND.
+BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE BELIEVE THAT EXISTING INDUSTRIES SHOULD BE EXPECTED OR ENCOURAGED TO WITHER AND DIE AWAY. RATHER IT MEANS TRYING TO AVOID KEEPING TOO MANY OF OUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET. AS THE TOY AND ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES HAVE DEVELOPED IN HONG KONG, THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN PARTICULAR HAS NEVERTHELESS KEPT PACE.+
ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS WHICH MADE THIS ACHIEVEMENT POSSIBLE WAS HONG KONG'S FREE MARKET, WHICH EXPOSED ITS INDUSTRY TO THE FULL FORCE OF COMPETITION.
+WE ARE ABOUT THE LARGEST, AND UNQUESTIONABLY THE FREEST MARKET IN THE WORLD FOR THE PRODUCTS OF YOUR INDUSTRY. AND WE INTEND TO STAY THAT WAY, SAID MR BREMRIDGE.
THERE WAS MUCH COMMON GROUND BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND HONG KONG IN THE FIELD OF TRADE POLICY, AND THE UNITED STATES HAD TAKEN THE LEAD IN THE GENERAL LIBERALISATION OF POST-WAR WORLD TRADE.
+WE HAVE BENEFITED CONSIDERABLY FROM THIS, ALTHOUGH,
I BELIEVE, NOT TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. OUR SHARE OF THE US MARKET IS SIGNIFICANT IN HONG KONG TERMS, BUT NOT IN US TERMS. WE ARE THE WORLD'S LARGEST EXPORTER OF FINISHED GARMENTS, AND YET OUR SHARE OF THE US DOMESTIC MARKET FOR TEXTILES AND GARMENTS COMBINED IS ONLY 1.5 PER CENT.
+ON_AN_OVERALL BASIS, LESS THAN TWO PER CENT BY VALUE OF US IMPORTS FROM THE WORLD CAME FROM HONG KONG IN 1981. AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE THE WORLD'S LARGEST IMPORTER OF YARNS AND FABRICS. IN 1980, HONG KONG'S IMPORTS OF YARNS AND FABRICS WERE WORTH ABOUT US$2.5 BILLION, OF WHICH IMPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES TOOK ONLY 1.8 PER CENT, STRESSED MR BREMRIDGE.
+CONSISTENT ITH