MONDAY, MAY 11, 1987
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'USEFUL' TRIP TO BRUSSELS AND VIENNA
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SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, TODAY (MONDAY) DESCRIBED AS +VERY USEFUL THE VISIT HE HAD MADE TO BRUSSELS AND VIENNA WHERE HE LED A DELEGATION FROM HONG KONG TO PROMOTE THE TERRITORY AS A FINANCIAL AND TRADE CENTRE.
SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AT KAI TAK AIRPORT ON HIS RETURN, SIR DAVID SAID HE WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY THE ENORMOUS INTEREST THERE WAS IN THESE PLACES IN HONG KONG. THERE WERE GOOD TURNOUTS OF BUSINESS LEADERS, BANKERS AND OFFICIALS AT CONFERENCES AT WHICH SIR DAVID AND OTHER HONG KONG LEADERS SPOKE.
HE ADDED THAT WHILE IN BRUSSELS AND VIENNA HE WAS ALSO ABLE TO TALK TO THE BRITISH AMBASSADORS THERE TO BRING THEM UP TO DATE ON EVENTS IN HONG KONG.
SIR DAVID SAID: +I AM SURE THAT THIS KIND OF VISITS TO GIVE FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF THINGS IN HONG KONG IS MOST USEFUL.+
ASKED IF HE HAD EXPLAINED HONG KONG'S POSITION AFTER 1997 TO THE BELGIAN PEOPLE, SIR DAVID REPLIED THAT THE IMPORTANT THING WAS TO DESCRIBE, NOT THE EVENTS OF 1985 AND THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT, BUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED SINCE THE AGREEMENT AND THE PROGRESS THAT HAD BEEN MADE IN THE VARIOUS FIELDS RELATING TO THE AGREEMENT SINCE THEN.
MARCH EXTERNAL TRADE STATISTICS RELEASED
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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (MONDAY) RELEASED TRADE VALUE STATISTICS FOR MARCH 1987. COMPARED WITH MARCH 1986, TOTAL MERCHANDISE TRADE IN MARCH 1987, AT $59 078 MILLION, GREW BY 53 PER CENT IN VALUE TERMS.
COMPARED WITH MARCH 1986, DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS BY 41 PER CENT TO $14 483 MILLION IN MARCH 1987 WHILE RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 62 PER CENT TO $13 864 MILLION, BRINGING TOTAL EXPORTS IN MARCH 1987 TO $28 347 MILLION, WHICH WAS 51 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN MARCH 1986. COMPARED WITH A YEAR EARLIER, IMPORTS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS BY 55 PER CENT TO $30 731 MILLION IN MARCH 1987.
/DOMELTIC EXPORTS