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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1982
ON EXPORT PROMOTION, HE SAID THAT THIS YEAR NO FEWER THAN 15 MISSIONS SUPPORTED BY THE BRITISH OVERSEAS TRADE BOARD (BOTB) WERE SCHEDULED TO COME TO HONG KONG AND, NEXT YEAR, A FURTHER 11 WERE ALREADY BEING PLANNED.
+ IN 1981 A TOTAL OF 245 BRITISH FIRMS PARTICIPATED IN BOTB SUPPORTED MISSIONS TO HONG KONG AND THIS YEAR THAT NUMBER IS GETTING ON TO 300,+ HE SAID.
BUSINESS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND BRITAIN HAS CONTINUED TO BOOM, HE SAID. WHEN I LAST SPOKE TO THIS CHAMBER IN 1978, OUR TWO-WAY TRADE AMOUNTED TO A TOTAL OF SOME 725 MILLION POUND STERLING —— THAT WAS VISIBLE TRADE. BY NOW, THE FIGURE HAS MUCH MORE THAN DOUBLED.+
HE SAID THERE WAS NO DOUBT BRITAIN OFFERS A LARGE AND ATTRACTIVE MARKET FOR HONG KONG'S PRODUCTS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR BRITAIN IMPORTED GOODS WORTH 425 MILLION POUND STERLING OF WHICH ALMOST EXACTLY HALF WAS FOR TEXTILES AND GARMENTS.
+OUR IMPORTS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND SOUND EQUIPMENT FROM YOU ROSE BY SOME 25 PER CENT BETWEEN 1978 AND 1981. OVER THE SAME THREE-YEAR PERIOD OUR IMPORTS OF WATCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT DOUBLED TO MORE THAN 45 MILLION POUND STERLING. OUR IMPORTS OF YOUR ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT AND APPLIANCES OVER THE SAME PERIOD ACTUALLY TRIPLED, HE SAID.
ALL THESE EXAMPLES SHOWED CLEARLY HOW SUCCESSFUL HONG KONG IS DIVERSIFYING AND EXPANDING ITS TRADE, HE ADDED.
DUKE SEES LOCAL INDUSTRY AT WORK
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THE DUKE OF KENT THIS MORNING GAINED AN INSIGHT INTO HONG KONG'S EFFORTS TO BROADEN ITS INDUSTRIAL BASE AND SAW AN EXAMPLE OF LOCAL HIGH-TECHNOLOGY AT WORK.
ACCOMPANIED BY THE DIRECTOR OF INDUSTRY, MR PETER TSAO, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS CALLED AT THE HONG KONG INDUSTRIAL ESTATES CORPORATION AT TAI PO WHERE HE WAS MET BY THE REGIONAL SECRETARY, NEW TERRITORIES, MR IAN MACPHERSON, AND MR VICTOR MILLER, THE CORPORATION'S CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
THE DUKE WAS BRIEFED ON THE MAJOR ACTIVITIES OF THE CORPORATION, SET UP IN 1977 ON THE CONCEPT OF OFFERING LAND SITES ON SPECIAL TERMS TO SELECTED INDUSTRIES TO ENCOURAGE INDUSTRIAL DIVERS IF ICATION AND THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
HE WAS TOLD THAT THE CORPORATION HAD ALREADY DEVELOPED 46 HECTARES OF INDUSTRIAL SITES IN TAI PO, WITH AN ADDITIONAL 20 HECTARES TO BE COMPLETED BETWEEN 1983 AND 1985.
/HIS ROYAL