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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1991
EAST.
MIDDLE
"IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR, THE WORLD FACED A CRISIS IN THE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORLD ECONOMIES WERE IN RECESSION. "LOCALLY, WE WERE SOME WAY OFF AN AGREEMENT WITH CHINA OVER OUR NEW AIRPORT. ALL THIS HAD CAST A SHADOW OVER OUR ECONOMIC PROSPECTS.'
11
THE THE WAY FOR
SIR DAVID SAID NOW, A YEAR ON, THE SUCCESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FORCES IN THE GULF HAD REMOVED A MAJOR THREAT TO WORLD PEACE AND AGREEMENT WITH CHINA ON THE NEW AIRPORT HAD CLEARED ANOTHER DECADE OF ECONOMIC EXPANSION IN HONG KONG.
SIR DAVID SAID HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF THIS YEAR INCREASED BY TWO PER CENT IN REAL TERMS.
THIS COMPARED WITH A DECLINE OF THREE PER CENT FOR PERIOD LAST YEAR. RE-EXPORTS HAD BOOMED UP 26 PER CENT.
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SEVEN
THE SAME
OTHER INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WERE ALSO MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, HE SAID, ADDING THAT LOCAL AND OVERSEAS INVESTMENT IN PLANT AND EQUIPMENT HAD PICKED UP SHARPLY.
"IN
THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, SUCH 18 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR AGO.
"WE HAVE
INVESTMENT WAS
REVISE UPWARDS OUR EARLIER BEEN ABLE TO ALREADY
TO BE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH. FORECAST
WE NOW EXPECT GROWTH THIS YEAR ABOUT 4 PER CENT," HE SAID.
NOTING THAT HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC SUCCESS WAS TIED CLOSELY TO ITS TRADITIONAL ROLE AS THE GATEWAY TO SOUTHERN CHINA, SIR DAVID SAID THE TERRITORY'S TRADE WITH CHINA CONTINUED TO EXPAND AT GREAT SPEED, GROWING BY 15 PER CENT LAST YEAR, AND BY AN ASTONISHING 27 PER CENT IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR.
ARB "AS A RESULT, INTENSIVE BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT RELATIONS GROWING BETWEEN HONG KONG AND THE FAST-DEVELOPING ECONOMY OF SOUTHERN CHINA.
WHO ARE "CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES
THE PLANNING EXPANSION IN ASIA WOULD DO WELL TO THINK OF THIS, AND OF
HE SAID. ROLE THAT HONG KONG WILL PLAY IN THIS KEY AREA OF GROWTH,
THE GOVERNOR SAID DESPITE HONG KONG'S
AND GROWTH
EXPANDING
ECONOMIC CONTINUED TO FACE PROBLEMS.
1
IMPRESSIVE
TRADE, WORLD-WIDE
THE
RECORD OF TERRITORY
OVERSEAS
BE SAID SOME WERE THE RESULT OF TROUBLES WHICH BEGAN AND WERE BEYOND HONG KONG'S CONTROL.
HE POINTED OUT THAT IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, THE INVASION OF KUWAIT IN AUGUST THIS WAS A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE TERRITORY'S PROSPECTS. YEAR, THE ATTEMPTED COUP IN THE SOVIET UNION POSED A SIMILAR THREAT TO INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CONFIDENCE.
PASSED OFF ALTHOUGH THE IMMEDIATE POLITICAL CRISIS IN MOSCOW
OF HOW FRAGILE WORLD HONG KONG WAS REMINDED ONCE AGAIN
MARKETS, НЕ SENTIMENTS WERE AND OF THE VOLATILITY OF WORLD
QUICKLY, BUSINESS SAID.
/AS HONG