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FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1982
HONG KONG
A PLACE OF OPPORTUNITIES ******
THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS, MR BILL DORWARD SAID TODAY (FRIDAY) THAT INSTEAD OF MERELY COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SHABBY TREATMENT WE RECEIVE FROM SOME OF OUR MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS, WE SHOULD MAKE GREATER EFFORT TO BRING HOME TO THEM THE SCOPE AND SIZE OF THE BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES THEY CAN AND DO ENJOY IN HONG KONG
IN THIS WAY, HE SAID, PERHAPS THE ADVANTAGES OF ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST OVER POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY WILL GRADUALLY SINK IN.
+WE CAN, AFTER ALL, ONLY BUY WITH WHAT WE EARN FROM WHAT WE SELL, HE SAID.
IN AN ADDRESS TO THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF HONG KONG, MR DORWARD SAID THAT HONG KONG SHOULD BE VIEWED BY OTHER COUNTRIES NOT AS A THREAT, BUT AS AN OPPORTUNITY WAITING AND WILLING TO BE EXPLOITED.
HE SAID, +FROM ITS BEGINNINGS, HONG KONG HAS BEEN A FACILITY FOR USE BY OTHERS. THE RECENT DRAMATIC RESURGENCE IN OUR RE-EXPORT TRADE REMINDS US FORCIBLY OF OUR ORIGINS. IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, RE-EXPORTS HAVE INCREASED OVER 400 PER CENT AND IN 1981 WERE WORTH $42 000 MILLION.
*THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS REPRESENTED BY RE-EXPORTS REACHED MORE THAN ONE-THIRD BY 1981 WHEREAS FIVE YEARS AGO THEY WERE AROUND ABOUT ONE QUARTER.
+THIS TRADE EMPHASISES THE VALUE OF HONG KONG TO THE MAJOR TRADING NATIONS OF THE WORLD. NO ONE CAN QUANTIFY TO WHAT EXTENT
IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE ANYWAY OR TO WHAT EXTENT IT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF HONG KONG. BUT IT IS SURELY BEYOND DOUBT THAT THE FACILITIES OF OUR COMMUNITY MADE IT EASIER, MORE EFFICIENT AND ALMOST CERTAINLY MORE PROFITABLE FOR ALL CONCERNED.
+ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT AREA OF OPPORTUNITY, AND ONE WHICH STILL OFFERS CONSIDERABLE SCOPE FOR EXPANSION,+ SAID MR DORWARD, +IS THE FACILITY HONG KONG OFFERS AS A MANUFACTURING BASE.+
HE OUTLINED THE PATTERN OF OVERSEAS PRESENCE IN HONG KONG INDUSTRY, REVEALED IN A RECENT SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY. AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE SURVEY FOUND THAT AMERICAN OWNED FACTORIES EXPORTED ABOUT 90 PER CENT OF THEIR PRODUCTION, THE JAPANESE FACTORIES, BY CONTRAST. MADE ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN HALF OF THEIR SALES OVERSEAS, THE LOCAL MARKET TAKING 45 PER CENT- AND ONLY ABOUT FIVE PER CENT OF THEIR TOTAL SALES WERE EXPORTED TO JAPAN.
+THIS LAST FACT RATHER UNDERMINES THE THEORY WE HAD BEEN EVOLVING THAT ONE WAY TO BOOST OUR EXPORTS TO JAPAN WAS TO STIMULATE JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG INDUSTRY.+
HOWEVER, HE STRESSED THAT JAPANESE PARTICIPATION IN HONG KONG INDUSTRY REMAINED VERY WELCOME AND WOULD CONTINUE TO BE A PRIME AIM OF HONG KONG'S PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES.
/+THESE ACTIVITIES,