WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1984
7
+SINCE I AM GOING TO BE MAKING A STATEMENT IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN JUST UNDER TWO HOURS, I WON'T SAY ANY MORE ABOUT IT NOW, BUT PERHAPS I COULD TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY JUST TO SAY AND SEND MY GREETINGS TO THE HONG KONG PRESS CORPS, BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN QUITE A LOT OF EACH OTHER OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
+THIS WILL BE MY LAST REGULAR TRIP TO PEKING, AND I THINK THAT ONE OF THE NICE FEATURES HAS BEEN THE CHEERFULNESS AND FRIENDLINESS OF THE PRESS CORPS BOTH HERE AND IN PEKING.
+1 THINK YOU HAVE ADDED A NEW DIMENSION TO LIFE. TO SEE YOU,+
VERY NICE
THE GOVERNOR WAS ACCOMPANIED ON HIS RETURN BY: DR DAVID WILSON, ASSISTANT UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE FCO; MR FRED BURROWS, LEGAL ADVISER, FCO; MR ROBIN MCLAREN, POLITICAL ADVISER;
MR JEREMY MATHEWS, CROWN SOLICITOR, LEGAL DEPARTMENT, AND MR Y.P. CHENG, CHIEF INTERPRETER.
HONG KONG'S VITAL TRADE ROLE STRESSED
*****
AUSTRIAN BUSINESSMEN WERE TOLD TODAY (WEDNESDAY) OF THE ADVANTAGE OFFERED BY HONG KONG AS A BUSINESS CENTRE SERVING BOTH THE PACIFIC REGION AND CHINA,
SPEAKING AT A SEMINAR IN VIENNA ORGANISED BY THE OBSTERREICH I SHE LAENDERBANK, MR PETER JOHNSON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF INDUSTRY POINTED OUT THAT THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE PACIFIC RIM, SUCH AS AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND JAPAN, HAD ALREADY RECOGNISED THE ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PACIFIC ASIA REGION, AND THAT THE REGION CONTINUES TO ENJOY HIGHER GDP GROWTH THAN THE INDUSTRIALISED WESTERN ECONOMIES.
IN 1983 U.S. TRADE WITH PACIFIC ASIA WAS US$29 BILLION HIGHER THAN U.S. TRADE WITH WESTERN EUROPE. THE U.S. AND JAPAN. MORE THAN ANY OTHER INDUSTRIALISED NATIONS, HAD ALSO RECOGNISED THE INDUSTRI AL OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY THE REGION. U.S. COMPANIES HAD, FOR EXAMPLE, INVESTED NEARLY US$7 BILLION IN MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS IN SINGAPORE AND WERE THE LARGEST SOURCE OF OVERSEAS INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG AND OTHER PLACES IN THE REGION. THE JAPANESE WERE NOT FAR BEHIND, HE SAID.
+WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE CENTRE OF GLOBAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, IT IS PERHAPS TIME THAT MORE PEOPLE IN EUROPE WOKE UP TO THE POSSIBILITIES.
/+AS YOU