XN000022-1977-05-17 — Page 4

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TUESDAY, MAY 17, 1977

REPORT ON FIRST QUARTERLY BUSINESS SURVEY

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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT HAS COMPILED A REPORT ON THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF QUARTERLY BUSINESS SURVEYS.

THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED IN APRIL. DURING THE SURVEY, SOME 630 FIRMS FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, FORMING A CROSS-SECTION OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, WERE ASKED ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS EXPERIENCE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR AND THE IR BUSINESS EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE YEAR.

THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE WEARING APPAREL AND +TEXTILES+ INDUSTRIES HAD EXPERIENCED SOME DETERIORATION IN BUSINESS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, WHILE OTHER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES AND THE CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE INDUSTRIES HAD EXPERIENCED FAIR IMPROVEMENT.

FOR THE SECOND QUARTER, SOME UNCERTAINTY EXISTED IN THE TEXTILES INDUSTRY, WHILE THE WEARING APPAREL INDUSTRY WERE MORE CONFIDENT OF AN UPTURN. STRONG BUSINESS CONFIDENCE WAS ALSO DISPLAYED BY MOST OTHER ECONOMIC SECTORS.

COMMENTING ON THE SURVEY, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID THAT THE DATA, WHICH WERE OBTAINED WITH A. MINIMUM TIME LAG, WERE BASICALLY INTENDED TO FACILITATE A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN HONG KONG.

APART FROM A LIMITED NUMBER OF QUESTIONS REQUIRING ANSWERS IN QUANTITATIVE TERMS, HE SAID, THE FIRMS WERE ASKED TO COMPARE THE QUARTER JUST PAST WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND THE FORTH- COMING ONE. THEY SHOULD INDICATE WHETHER, IN THEIR OPINION, A CERTAIN ECONOMIC VARIABLE HAD BEEN +UP+, +SAME OR DOWN+.

THE SPOKESMAN THANKED THOSE WHO HAD TAKEN PART IN THE SURVEY, FOR THEIR CO-OPERATION.

COPIES OF THE REPORT, CONTAINING AN ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL TABLES ON VARIOUS ECONOMIC VARIABLES, HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO FIRMS TAKING PART IN THE SURVEY AND OTHER BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS.

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