XN000022-1978-04-11 — Page 5

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1978

IMPORTS BY AIR IN 1977 INCREASED BY 26.9 PER CENT OVER 1976, HAVING REGISTERED A MUCH FASTER GROWTH THAN THAT OF TOTAL IMPORTS.

THE MAJOR COMMODITIES IMPORTED BY AIR INCLUDED WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($2,069 MILLION, +39.6 PER CENT), PEARLS AND PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES ($656 MILLION, +26.4 PER CENT), ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND PARTS FOR COMPUTERS ($589 MILLION, +33.6 PER CENT), SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS ($350 MILLION, +40.6 PER CENT).

THE MAJOR SUPPLIES OF AIRBORNE IMPORTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

AIRBORNE IMPORTS IN 1977 PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN VALUE

(HK$ MILLION)

1977/1976

MAIN SUPPLIERS

U.S.A.

1,957

+22.1%

JAPAN

1,758

+30.0%

SWITZERLAND AND

LIECHTENSTEIN

873

+21.3%

UNITED KINGDOM

409

+38.6%

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

(SOUTH KOREA)

408

+38.8%

AIRBORNE RE-EXPORTS TO JAPAN DROPPED BY 8.6 PER CENT TO $732 MILLION IN 1977. THIS DECLINE WAS OFFSET BY GROWTH RATES RECORDED IN THE CASE OF TAIWAN ($410 MILLION, +22.0 PER CENT), SINGAPORE ($398 MILLION, +15.4 PER CENT), THE U.S. ($321 MILLION, +16.7 PER CENT) AND SOUTH KOREA ($129 MILLION, +59.3 PER CENT).

AMONG THE COMMODITIES RE-EXPORTED BY AIR, WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($717 MILLION, +19.3 PER CENT), SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS ($163 MILLION, +31.5 PER CENT), AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND PARTS FOR ELECTRICAL MACHINERY ($153 MILLION, +29.7 PER CENT) REGISTERED THE MOST FAVOURABLE RATES OF GROWTH,

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