2
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1991
"THESE QUARANTEE THAT HONG KONG WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FREE PORT, THAT PRIVATE SHIPPING AND RELATED BUSINESSES WILL CONTINUE TO OPERATE FREELY, AND THAT HONG KONG WILL MAINTAIN ITS OWN SYSTEMS OF SHIPPING MANAGEMENT AND REGULATION AND ITS OWN SHIPPING REGISTER.
[
'WITH THIS SOLID CONSTITUTIONAL BACKING, THE GOVERNMENT SET OUT TO ENSURE THAT HONG KONG REMAINS A LEADING MARITIME CENTRE PRACTICE.
HAS
IN
"
"A SIGNIFICANT RECENT STEP WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR SHIPPING REGISTER, HE SAID.
OWN
BY
MR MACLEOD NOTED THAT THE NEW REGISTER IS PROVING ITS WORTH ATTRACTING 71 NEW REGISTRATIONS AMOUNTING TO 1.27 MILLION GROSS REGISTERED TONNES IN ITS FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION.
"SHIP REGISTRATION IS, HOWEVER, A VERY COMPETITIVE BUSINESS AND WE INTEND TO ENHANCE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF OUR REGISTER BY EXEMPTING UPLIFTS BY HONG KONG REGISTERED SHIPS FROM PROFITS CAPPING OUR SLIDING SCALE OF CHARGES AT A LEVEL WHICH WILL ATTRACT MORE OWNERS OF VERY LARGE SHIPS.
SIM
TAX
AND BELIEVE
"ALL THIS EFFORT TO PLAN PORT DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDE A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR SHIP REGISTRATION IS A MAJOR ATTEMPT TO IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVELY THE GOVERNMENT'S LONG-STANDING POLICY OF PROVIDING A FAVOURABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SHIPPING AND SHIPPING-RELATED INDUSTRIES TO FLOURISH,' MR MACLEOD SAID.
**
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR OCTOBER RELEASED
(A)
THE YEAR-ON-YEAR RATE OF INCREASE IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX IN OCTOBER WAS 11.3%, SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THE 11.5% RECORDED IN SEPTEMBER, ACCORDING TO THE FIGURES RELEASED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
MEANWHILE, THE YEAR-ON-YEAR RATE OF INCREASE IN CPI(B) IN OCTOBER WAS 11.1%. SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THE 11.2% RECORDED SEPTEMBER.
IN
IN
THE SLOWDOWN IN THE RATES OF INCREASE IN CPI(A) AND CPI(B) OCTOBER WAS PARTLY DUE TO A MORE MODERATE INCREASE IN THE CHARGES FOR MEALS AT RESTAURANTS AND OTHER EATING PLACES IN OCTOBER THIS YEAR,
MOREOVER, PRICE INCREASES IN OIL PRODUCTS AND SOME TRANSPORT AND RELATED SERVICES WHICH TOOK PLACE IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR DID NOT OCCUR THIS YEAR.
ON
A YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, THE FUEL AND LIGHT COMPONENT IN THE CPI(A) RECORDED A MARGINAL DECREASE OF 0.4%.
/MORE MODERATE