TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1987
5
+THE CHANGES IN HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS HAVE BEEN DRAMATIC BOTH IN QUANTITY AND QUALITY.
+THEIR NUMBER HAS MULTIPLIED BY ALMOST NINE TIMES AND THE RANGE AND SOPHISTICATION OF THEIR PRODUCTS HAS DEVELOPED BEYOND ANYTHING WE COULD HAVE IMAGINED IN THE DARK AND DIFFICULT YEARS WHEN THE FEDERATION WAS FORMED.
+DESPITE GROWTH IN OTHER DIRECTIONS - PARTICULARLY IN TOURISM AND THE FINANCIAL SERVICE SECTOR - INDUSTRY REMAINS THE BACKBONE OF OUR ECONOMY, THE EMPLOYER OF NEARLY 900 000 MEN AND WOMEN AND THE CONTRIBUTOR OF 24 PER CENT TO OUR GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT,+
HE SAID.
IN ADDITION. HONG KONG MANUFACTURERS HAD EXTENDED THEIR ACTIVITIES BY INVESTMENT IN BRANCH FACTORIES IN MANY PARTS OF CHINA AND MORE PARTICULARLY IN THE SHENZHEN SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE AND THEY HAD EXPANDED OVERSEAS TO MANY COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD.
+THESE DEVELOPMENTS GIVE AN INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION AND AN ADDITIONAL STRENGTH TO THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR ECONOMY, HE ADDED.
PRICE, VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF NOVEMBER EXTERNAL TRADE *****
STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATED THAT THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS GREW BY 16 PER CENT IN THE FIRST 11 MONTHS OF 1986 AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1985. THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 12 PER CENT. HENCE, THERE WAS AN OVERALL INCREASE OF 14 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.
IMPORTS INCREASED BY 13 PER CENT IN VOLUME. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS BOTH ROSE BY 2 PER CENT, SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS PRICES ALSO INCREASED BY 2 PER CENT.
PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 5 PER CENT. AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DROPPED BY 3 PER CENT.
/COMPARING NOVEMBER