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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1984
Q: CHINA HAS MADE SEVERAL PROPOSALS, A WIDE RANGE OF FREEDOMS TO HONG KONG BUT HAS MADE NO MENTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
YOU THINK RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS IMPORTANT FOR THE STABILITY AND THE PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG?
A: I HAVE CERTAINLY HAD THE POINT ABOUT THE DESIRE FOR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP PUT TO ME WHEN I WAS LAST HERE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IS IMPORTANT AS PART OF THE CONTINUATION OF THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE. YES. I DO AGREE.
Q: YOU SAID THAT SIR GEOFFREY WAS DUE TO VISIT HERE SOON. IT HAS BEEN RUMOURED IN APRIL. DO YOU THINK THAT, WHEN HE COMES, IT WILL BE SIGNIFICANT IN THAT IT WILL BE SHOWING THAT THE PACE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ARE THEN BEING STEPPED UP?
A: FIRST OF ALL, NO PRECISE DATE HAS BEEN ABLE TO BE FIXED YET. IT WILL BE, I AM SURE, IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND I KNOW THAT SIR GEOFFREY HOWE IS ANXIOUS TO MAKE HIS VISIT. HIS
HE LOOKS FIRST VISIT AS FOREIGN SECRETARY TO HONG KONG. FORWARD TO THAT AND, OF COURSE, IN THAT CONTEXT, IT WILL BE SIGNIFICANT AND IMPORTANT.
JANUARY EXPORTS RISE SHARPLY
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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN JANUARY 1984 INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY BY 68 PER CENT OR $4 351 MILLION OVER JANUARY 1983, TO REACH $10 791 MILLION, ACCORDING TO PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS ALSO ROSE RAPIDLY, BY 61 PER CENT OR 258 MILLION TO $5 976 MILLION.
THUS, TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT $16 767 MILLION, WAS 65 PER CENT OR $6 609 MILLION HIGHER THAN THE FIGURE A YEAR EARLIER.
THE VALUE OF IMPORTS REACHED $15 899 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 38 PER CENT OR $4 362 MILLION OVER THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR.
THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS GREATER THAN THAT OF IMPORTS AND THE VISIBLE TRADE ACCOUNT RECORDED A SURPLUS OF $868 MILLION. THIS IS THE FIRST SURPLUS SINCE AUGUST 1980, WHEN THE SURPLUS WAS ONLY $16 MILLION.
PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT COMPARING THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1984 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1983, OVERALL TRADE HAD GROWN BY MORE THAN 27 PER CENT. FURTHER, THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT 31 PER CENT, WAS FASTER THAN THAT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, AT 25 PER CENT. AS A RESULT, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP (1.E. THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS) IN THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1984 NARROWED TO SEVEN PER CENT, FROM 11 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS 12-MONTH PERIOD.
/COMMENTING ON