So much, gentlemen for the gloom. But though the difficulties have been and are real, relatively the picture is nothing like as bleak. There are many places in the world which have had as difficult if not more difficult times than Hong Kong has had and there are few which have the innate strengths of the community of Hong Kong with which to confront them.
Let me remind you of some of those strengths.
If anyone needed evidence of the resilience of the Hong Kong economy he has only to look at its record of versatility and power of adaptation. It used to be said that the Governor of Hong Kong needed ab economic adviser. If he wanted to know the state of the economy he
would stand on his terrace looking over the harbour and count the ships.
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Hong Kong was then just a trading port. Now he stands on the terrace and the only thing he can count is banks and business houses because they have surrounded Government House with skyscrapers and the present
govemor can scarcely see the harbour at all. But it is still there and its activity is growing. The liong Kong container terminal has the third largest throughput in the world and it is about to expand
further.
After the last war in the fifties and sixties a major light manufacturing centre grew up, first for textiles and then for toys, watches, electronics, electrical goods and many other products. Manufacturing for a time came to account for as much as a third of our gross domestic product and still employs about 40% of our labour force. Our manufacturers have over the years constantly upgraded the quality of their product and the speed of their reaction to changes in market demand.
In recent years Hong Kong has added a new string to its bow in the shape of a financial centre of world standing third after London
and New York in the value of business conducted. The loss of the view
from Government House is perhaps a small price to pay for the addition of such a major new asset,
I recall this history, not because it will be new to you but
as a reminder of the conditions which have contributed to Hong Kong's
success in the past and to emphasize that they are still there. The skill and determination of the Hong Kong businessmen and financiera,
/their adaptability
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