XN000022-1972-10-18 — Page 14

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Wednesday, October 18, 1972

GOVERNOR HAS CONFIDENCE IN H.K.'s TRADING PROSPECTS

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The Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, said today he had confidence

in Hong Kong's trading prospects both in the immediate future and in the

longer terms, and that his mood was therefore "one of optimism".

He told the Legislative Council at the opening of its new session

that if he was correct in his confidence, people could be similarly confident

of the growth rate of investment in Hong Kong and of yields from taxes.

"So I am hopeful that the recurrent and capital revenue available

to us over the rest of this decade will be sufficient to enable us to

finance a steady expansion of our services and the works programmes

necessary to the development and stability of this community," he said.

Sir Murray pointed out that tensions in the Western Pacific had

been reduced by a statesmanship which would be in Hong Kong's interest.

Anglo Chinese relations are now once more on a stable and friendly

basis and this too is to Hong Kong's advantage, he added.

"For the rest, we have good hopes of an expansion in world trade;

we have drawn up plans for improving the condition of our population, and

there is a fair prospect of our having the means to carry then out within a

reasonable time-span."

The Governor explained that the maintenance of a high rate of

economic expansion was one of the two prerequisites of the very continuance

of the community.

/He said: "It