THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1985
SAID MR TANG: +AS PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR OF MALAYSIA SAID IN HONG KONG EARLIER THIS YEAR, WHEN TWO ELEPHANTS DO BATTLE IT IS THE GRASS THAT IS TRAMPLED'.
+ IN HONG KONG WE FEEL THE IRONY OF THE SITUATION EVEN MORE STRONGLY.
+WE SEE OUR NEIGHBOURS LIVING IN GLASS HOUSES THROWING STONES AT EACH OTHER.
+UNFORTUNATELY, WHAT IS SHATTERED FIRST WILL BE THE SMALL WINDOW OF FREE MARKET ECONOMY AND COMPLETELY OPEN TRADE POLICY WHICH WE PRESENT TO OUR NEIGHBOURS.
+THIS WOULD BE A GREAT PITY, BECAUSE THIS WINDOW, SMALL AS IT IS, REPRESENTS THE HERITAGE OF THE FREE WORLD.+
MR TANG SAID HONG KONG PROBABLY HAD THE MOST OPEN ECONOMY IN THE WORLD.
THE TERRITORY DID NOT LEVY ANY CUSTOMS DUTIES. THERE WERE NO QUOTAS, NO TRADE RESTRICTIONS, NO SPECIAL SAFEGUARDS ON ANY SECTOR OF ITS INDUSTRY.
+OUR MARKET IS GENUINELY OPEN TO THE WORLD,+ HE SAID.
THIS MEANT THAT HONG KONG WAS A BIG IMPORTER AS WELL AS EXPORTER. IT FACED A BILATERAL TRADE IMBALANCE WITH JAPAN THAT WAS 11 TO ONE IN JAPAN'S FAVOUR (NOT TWO-AND-A-HALF TO ONE IN THE U.S.-JAPAN SITUATION).
HONG KONG'S PER CAPITA IMPORTS FROM THE U.S. LAST YEAR STOOD AT U.S.$577 AGAINST U.S.$172 FOR THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, U.S.$198 FOR JAPAN AND U.S.$150 FOR SOUTH KOREA.
AND THIS WAS DESPITE THE FACT THAT HONG KONG'S PER CAPITA PURCHASING POWER WAS LOWER THAN EUROPE'S OR JAPAN'S.
EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEXTILE TRADE TO HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, MR TANG SAID THE GARMENT AND TEXTILE INDUSTRIES EMPLOYED ALMOST 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL INDUSTRIAL WORK-FORCE. MORE THAN A THIRD OF HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE U.S. WERE GARMENTS AND TEXTILES COVERED BY THE MFA.
+THE SCOPE FOR GROWTH IN SUCH EXPORTS HAS BEEN SEVERELY LIMITED BY RESTRAINT AGREEMENT FOR OVER TWO DECADES.
+YET, HONG KONG IS AMONG THE WORLD'S BIGGEST IMPORTERS OF TEXTILES. LAST YEAR WE IMPORTED U.S.$3 BILLION WORTH OF TEXTILES, MR TANG SAID.
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