FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1982
4.
+THESE ACTIVITIES, IN JAPAN AND ELSEWHERE, WILL, I HOPE, INCREASINGLY SPREAD AWARENESS AMONG OVERSEAS INDUSTRIALISTS OF THE OPPORTUNITIES WHICH HONG KONG OFFERS THEM,+
MR DORWARD CAUTIONED THAT AT THIS TIME OF HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA, WE MUST BE CONSCIOUS OF THE UNDERSTANDABLE SENSITIVITIES, AMONG BOTH BUSINESSMEN AND WORKERS, AT ANYTHING WHICH MIGHT SUGGEST THAT THEY WERE BEING
INDUCED TO EXPORT SOME OF THEIR REMAINING JOBS.
+THE ANSWER WE GIVE TO THAT ALLEGATION IS THAT WE OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTION FOR THE EXPANSION OF SALES IN MARKETS WHICH COULD NOT BE SERVED, FOR REASONS OF DISTANCE OR COMPETITIVENESS, FROM THE HOME BASED OPERATION- AND FOR THE INCORPORATION OF COMPONENTS FROM THE PARENT UNIT IN A NEW RANGE OF PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED HERE, HE SAID.
HE MENTIONED THE UNITED KINGDOM AS AN EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE THE OPPORTUNITIES HONG KONG OFFERED AS A MARKET IN ITS OWN RIGHT.
ON A PER CAPITA BASIS, HE SAID, THE UK PERFORMANCE IN THIS MARKET WAS REALLY QUITE REMARKABLE. IN 1980 HONG KONG TOOK 105 POUNDS STERLING WORTH OF BRITISH GOODS FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN THIS COMMUNITY. BY COMPARISON, THE FRG, WHICH IS BRITAIN'S BIGGEST EXPORT MARKET, TOOK ONLY 89 POUNDS STERLING PER CAPITA. AND BRITISH EXPORTS TO HONG KONG LAST YEAR WERE HIGHER THAN THOSE TO JAPAN, WHICH HAS 20 TIMES OUR POPULATION.
+EVEN THESE REMARKABLE FIGURES DO NOT TELL THE FULL STORY. FOR EXAMPLE, SINCE 1978, A TOTAL OF ABOUT 22 SHIPS HAVE BEEN ORDERED FOR HONG KONG OWNERS IN BRITISH YARDS.
CATHAY PACIFIC, WHICH IS THE ONLY MAJOR AIRLINE IN THE WORLD COMPLETELY USING ROLLS-ROYCE-ENGINES HAS BOUGHT 34 MAIN ENGINES, PLUS SPARES, FOR ITS 747 AND TRI-STAR FLEET,
THESE PURCHASES TAKEN TOGETHER WITH ROLLING STOCK, POWER SIGNALLING EQUIPMENT FOR THE MTR AND KCR, POWER STATION GENERATING PLANT, BUSES, FERRIES AND BUILDING EQUIPMENT HAVE BEEN WORTH SOMETHING LIKE 1 400 MILLION POUNDS STERLING OR HK$14 420 MILLION (AT THE CURRENT EXCHANGE RATE) OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HE SAID.
+THESE FIGURES REFLECT MUCH CREDIT ON BRITISH INDUSTRY, AND ON THE EFFORTS WHICH HAD BEEN MADE BY SOME VERY DEDICATED REPRESENTATIVES TO BOOST SALES IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD. THERE IS CLEARLY MUCH MORE TO BE DONE, NOT MERELY BY THE BRITISH, BUT BY OTHERS WHO MAY HAVE TENDED TO UNDERESTIMATE THE DIMENSIONS OF THIS MARKET.
→THAT HONG KONG AS A MARKET SHOULD BE UNDERESTIMATED IS PERHAPS NOT SURPRISING. WITHOUT SOME SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF ITS POSSIBILITIES, IT WOULD BE EASY FOR SOMEONE IN EUROPE OR NORTH AMERICA TO BE DAZZLED BY THE RELATIVE SIZE OF OTHER MARKETS, BOTH IN TERMS OF GEOGRAPHICAL AREA AND POPULATION. BUT THE FACT IS THAT FOR MANUFACTURES HONG KONG RATES AS THE 15TH LARGEST IMPORT MARKET IN THE WORLD THE 10TH LARGEST, IF THE EEC COUNTRIES ARE TAKEN AS ONE BLOC- AND THE FIFTH LARGEST IN THE WORLD ON A PER CAPITA BASIS.
+THE_MARKET_IS NOT ONLY LARGE, BUT FAST GROWING. IN THE FIVE YEARS 1976 TO 1980, WORLD TRADE GREW BY NEARLY 100 PER CENT. HONG KONG IMPORTS GREW BY OVER 150 PER CENT, + MR DORWARD SAID.