XN000022-1977-08-10 — Page 12

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1977

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DORWARD REITERATES HONG KONG'S NEGOTIATING POSITION

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THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, MR. BILL DORWARD, SAID TODAY THAT HONG KONG WAS PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE A REASONABLE TEXTILE AGREEMENT WITH THE EEC WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK AND THE TERMS OF THE GATT MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT.

MR. DORWARD, WHO WAS ANSWERING A QUESTION BY THE HON. FRANCIS TIEN IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, STRESSED THAT HONG KONG HAD NOT MOVED FROM ITS BASIC POSITION.

MR. TIEN HAD ASKED THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE FORTHCOMING TEXTILE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE EEC HAVING REGARD TO THE VISIT TO HONG KONG OF THE COMMUNITY'S CHIEF TEXTILE NEGOTIATOR, MẸ. TRAN VAN THỊNH.

MR. DORWARD EXPLAINED THAT MR. TRAN'S VISIT WAS NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF NEGOTIATION, BUT RATHER FOR DISCUSSION OF A POSSIBLE BASIS FOR NEGOTIATION LATER THIS YEAR. +FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW, THIS WAS A USEFUL EXERCISE. WE BELIEVE MR. TRAN ALSO FOUND IT SO,+ HE SAID.

MR. DORWARD POINTED OUT THAT MR. TRAN HAD SAID PUBLICLY YESTERDAY THAT HE FOUND HONG KONG'S REACTION TO HIS TENTATIVE PROPOSALS TO BE TOUGH BUT THAT HE (TRAN) ALSO EXPRESSED OPTIMISM THAT THERE HAD EMERGED THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT.

MR. DORWARD ADDED: +WE ARE ENCOURAGED BY MR. TRAN'S OPTIMISM IN THE FACE OF A VERY EXPLICIT STATEMENT OF OUR POSITION AND ARE NOW READY TO OPEN NEGOTIATIONS IN BRUSSELS, PROBABLY IN EARLY OCTOBER.

+GIVEN THAT THIS IS NOW A MATTER FOR SERIOUS NEGOTIATION, I DO NOT FEEL I CAN REASONABLY BE MORE EXPLICIT IN RESPECT OF THE POSTURE WE SHALL BE ADOPTING OTHER THAN TO SAY WE SHALL NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT DAMAGE TO THE HONG KONG TEXTILE INDUSTRY WOULD BE, IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TERMS, A RELATIVELY MUCH MORE SERIOUS MATTER THAN THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIMILAR PROBLEMS FACED BY THE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES OF THE EEC, MR. DORWARD SAID.

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