XN000022-1978-08-17 — Page 4

-

3 -

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1978

WITHIN THE MANUFACTURING DIVISION, ELECTRONICS, TEXTILES AND MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES INTENDED TO DECREASE THE IR NEW INVESTMENT WHILE PRINTING, FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS INTENDED TO INCREASE.

FOR THE REMAINING MANUFACTURING SECTORS, ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF NEW INVESTMENT WAS INTENDED FOR 1978 AS FOR 1977.

TAKEN AS A WHOLE, DECREASED NEW INVESTMENT WAS EXPECTED FOR THE MANUFACTURING DIVISION IN 1978 AS COMPARED WITH 1977.

THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR ALSO EXPECTED A SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN NEW INVESTMENT IN 1978.

ON THE OTHER HAND, SERVICE SECTORS WERE PREPARED TO MAKE SUBSTANTIALLY MORE INVESTMENT IN 1978 THAN IN 1977, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS BEING RESTAURANTS, BANKS AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS SERVICES.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT SAID THE DATA, 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, THE FIRMS WERE ASKED TO COMPARE THE QUARTER JUST PAST WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND SIMILARLY FOR THE FORTHCOMING ONE,+ THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

+THEY ONLY HAD TO INDICATE WHETHER, IN THEIR OPINION, A CERTAIN VARIABLE WAS 'UP', 'SAME' OR 'DOWN',+ HE ADDED.

THE SPOKESMAN REMINDED THAT IN A SURVEY OF THIS NATURE, CONSIDERABLE RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS, BECAUSE IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE RESPONDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE ACCORDS WITH THE UNDERLYING TRENDS, AND THE SURVEY RESULTS ARE PROBABLY AFFECTED CONSIDERABLY BY SEASONALITY.

14