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HK FACING CHANGE IN PRACTICAL WAY
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1986
SIR DAVID
HONG KONG WAS FACING UP TO CHANGE IN A PRACTICAL WAY, BACKED BY A STRONG AND RESILIENT ECONOMY WHICH HAD CONTINUED ITS UPWARD TREND, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID IN MONTRÉAL TODAY (TUESDAY).
+DESPITE AN UNDERSTANDABLE IMPATIENCE, REAL PROGRESS IS BEING MADE ON THE NUMEROUS COMPLICATED QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE TO BE RESOLVED,+ SIR DAVID TOLD THE HONG KONG-CANADA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION,
SIR DAVID SAID THAT THE HONG KONG PHILOSOPHY OF MINIMUM INTERFERENCE AND INTERVENTION IN THE ECONOMY BY THE GOVERNMENT HAD ENABLED BUSINESSMEN AND INDUSTRIALISTS +TO GET ON WITH THEIR JOB DURING THIS TIME WITHOUT BEING SUBJECT TO IRRELEVANT DIRECTIVES AND CONCERN FROM A GOVERNMENT PREOCCUPIED BY THE WEIGHTY PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE+,
APART FROM THE GOVERNMENT'S DETERMINATION TO INVEST IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE, PRIVATE SECTOR CONFIDENCE AND INVESTMENT HAD BEEN FORTHCOMING, SIR DAVID SAID.
SIR DAVID POINTED OUT THAT THROUGH PRIVATE INVESTMENT. WORK HAD BEGUN LAST YEAR ON A HK$2-BILLION EXPANSION OF THE CONTAINER PORT -- ALREADY THE THIRD IN THE WORLD IN THROUGH-PUT THE POWER COMPANIES HAD CONTINUED WITH THEIR VIGOROUS EXPANSION PLANS TO KEEP THE WHEELS OF INDUSTRY TURNING, AND PRIVATE INVESTORS FROM JAPAN, CHINA AND BRITAIN WOULD BEGIN WORK LATER THIS
AND. YEAR ON ANOTHER ROAD AND RAIL LINK UNDER THE HARBOUR. NORTHWARDS, ROAD AND RAIL LINKS WERE BEING IMPROVED BOTH IN HONG KONG AND IN THE NEIGHBOURING PARTS OF GUANGDONG WHICH WOULD ENSURE THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS WITHIN HONG KONG TO AND FROM THE REST OF CHINA.
+THESE ARE LARGE INVESTMENTS BY ANY STANDARD AND I HOPE THAT MENTION OF THESE EXAMPLES TO YOU TODAY WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF SOME OF THE PRACTICAL STEPS THAT ARE BEING TAKEN TO UNDERPIN THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG,+ SIR DAVID SAID.
HONG KONG'S LINKS WITH THE CANADIAN PEOPLE AND ECONOMY HAD BEEN GROWING STEADILY, PARTICULARLY OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, SIR DAVID SAID.
+ IT HAS BEEN A FRUITFUL RELATIONSHIP AND ONE WHICH IS MUCH VALUED BY HONG KONG, HE SAID.
CANADA WAS HONG KONG'S SIXTH LARGEST EXPORT MARKET AND ITS TENTH TRADING PARTNER, AND LAST YEAR, CANADA'S EXPORTS TO HONG KONG HAD GROWN BY 15 PER CENT.
/THIS GROWTH,