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WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 1984
CANADIANS URGED TO INVEST IN HK
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THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, TODAY (WEDNESDAY) URGED CANADIAN COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN THE CANADA EXPO '84 AT HONG KONG EXHIBITION CENTRE TO INVEST IN HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.
SPEAKING AT THE EXHIBITION'S OPENING CEREMONY, SIR PHILIP SAID HONG KONG HAD A DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY, WITH AN AGGRESSIVE MANUFACTURING SECTOR, A SOLID CORE OF SERVICE INDUSTRIES WITH LINKS THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND THE WORLD, A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING INFRASTRUCTURE, AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS WHICH WERE AMONG THE WORLD'S BEST.
PUBLIC POLICIES WERE BASED ON THE TWIN CONCEPTS OF THE MARKET DISCIPLINED ECONOMY AND THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM, HE ADDED.
OVERSEAS PARTICIPATION IN HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING SECTOR
WAS ALREADY SUBSTANTIAL, SIR PHILIP SAID. SOME 550 FACTOR IES WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY OWNED BY OVERSEAS INTERESTS EMPLOYED ABOUT 11 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S INDUSTRIAL WORKFORCE, AND PRODUCED ABOUT 17 PER CENT OF ITS EXPORTS.
ALTHOUGH THERE WERE ONLY EIGHT FACTORIES IN HONG KONG INVOLVING CANADIAN INTERESTS, THERE HAD BEEN A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN INTEREST RECENTLY. SEVERAL CANADIAN COMPANIES WERE CONSIDERING INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG TO PRODUCE MICROCOMPUTERS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT. AND SEVERAL OF THE COMPANIES ALREADY HERE WERE CURRENTLY EXPANDING THE IR OPERATIONS.
SIR PHILIP SAID CANADA ALREADY FIGURED PROMINENTLY IN HONG KONG'S TRADE STATISTICS. IN 1983, CANADA WAS HONG KONG'S TENTH LARGEST TRADING PARTNER, AND THE TOTAL TWO-WAY TRADE AMOUNTED TO $5.6 BILLION.
HE SAID HONG KONG SOUGHT FURTHER EXPANSION OF TRADE WITH CANADA.
HONG KONG MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES NEEDED CANADIAN RAW MATERIALS AND THE PEOPLE +HAD A REMARKABLE DEMAND+ FOR THE KIND OF CONSUMER GOODS PRODUCED BY THE COUNTRY.
FINANCIAL
+MOREOVER, OUR POSITION AS A MAJOR SHIPPING, AND COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE ALSO OFFERS AN EXCELLENT MARKET OPPORTUNITY FOR CANADIAN EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES, MANY EXAMPLES OF WHICH ARE ON DISPLAY AT THIS EXPOSITION, SIR PHILIP SAID.
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