XN000022-1978-03-08 — Page 14

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I think that there are two similarities between Britain and

Kong Kong which are often overlooked.

Both have dense populations living

close to the sea and both have had to trade in order to survive. It is

not therefore surprising that over many years we have become partners in

trade.

Any trading nation has to produce goods and services that people

want to buy, in order to earn its living. Britain has of course managed to

do this over a long period, but I think we ought to pay tribute to Hong Kong's

conspicuous success in generating an increasingly high standard of living,

not by producing cheap basic goods, but by taking exactly the opposite road

and going progressively for more and more sophisticated high-technology

products. To have done this in the teeth of such fierce world-wide com-

petition and to have sustained such a high rate of growth, only briefly

interrupted by the recession of 1974/75, surely displays managerial skill

and entrepreneurial spirit of an unusually high order. These are qualities

which I may say are still very much admired in Britain even if they may

have seemed to be somewhat dormant in recent years. They are I assure

you by no means defunct, as a look at almost any of our major exporting

companies would quickly remind you.

On the United Kingdom's side I think that we can certainly take

pride in our record over the years, both in providing a substantial outlet

for Hong Kong's products as well as in assisting Hong Kong to open up new

markets. In fact since 1971 the territory's exports to Britain, which last

year reached over 450 million pounds sterling, have multiplied almost three-

fold. For Hong Kong, Britain must be rated a highly important market, taking

as she does roughly 10% of your exports, and I have no doubt it will remain

so for many years to come. Hong Kong must of course trade to survive and

Britain, with its established overseas representation, will continue

wherever possible to assist Hong Kong businessmen to open up third markets.

/Ladies