XN000022-1973-10-17 — Page 87

40

Wednesday, October 17, 1973

Nevertheless we find this development a most disquieting one, and we have

left Her Majesty's Government in no doubt as to the strength of our feeling

on this subject in Hong Kong. We regard this issue as an open one on which

adjustments could and should be sought in the course of annual reviews.

Against this background of so many difficulties it is encouraging

that the value of our domestic exports alone in the first eight months of

this year was 21% up in value on the same eight months of 1972, and let

us remember that this is an export-led economy. Even allowing for inflation of

values, it was a remarkable result. It would appear that real as the

difficulties have been, they have affected different sectore in different

ways and to different degrees. Some exporters have found their expansion

slowed down by export restraints, for instance in the United States. Others

have found increased opportunities in other markets or in other lines. Our

business with the E.E.C. has substantially increased, and there are prospects of a more liberal attitude towards imports in Japan. Similarly, changes in international parities have brought loss in some markets, but opened up

new opportunities in others. Making allowance for such shifting patterns

of light and shade I find the general picture, the picture that affecta

Hong Kong as a whole, an encouraging one. It is remarkable that in the face

of so many problems and uncertainties expansion should still have continued. This gives solid ground for hope that the ingenuity of our exporters and their labour force, the hard-headedness of our official negotiators, and the sheor demand for Hong Kong's goods can continue to combine to ensure the

expansion of our economy.

/And 60,