XN000022-1979-03-20 — Page 5

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1979

IN ADDITION,

GROWTH IN AIRBORNE EXPORTS TO THE F.R. OF GERMANY WAS RECORDED IN APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES ($692 MILLION, 43 PER CENT), AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($188 MILLION, 172 PER CENT).

+ PROMINENT INCREASES WERE REGISTERED IN AIRBORNE EXPORTS OF WATCHES TO THE UNITED KINGDOM AND SWITZERLAND.

IMPORTS BY AIR FROM THE FOLLOWING MAJOR SUPPLIERS ALSO RECORDED INCREASES:

1978 (HK$ MN) (HK$ MN)

1977

INCREASE (HK$ MN)

PERCENTAGE

CHANGE

JAPAN

2,644

1,758

+ 886

50

U.S.A.

2,031

1,957

74

4

SWITZERLAND

1,442

873

+ 569

65

ISRAEL

961

178

+ 783

+ 440

UNITED KINGDOM

558

409

+ 149

36

SINGAPORE

519

358

+161

45

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, MORE AND MORE PRODUCTS WERE IMPORTED INTO HONG KONG BY AIR.

INCREASES DURING 1978 WERE REGISTERED CHIEFLY IN WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($3,016 MILLION, +46 PER CENT), THERMIONIC, COLD CATHODE AND PHOTO-CATHODE VALVES AND TUBES, AND MISCELLANEOUS ELECTRICAL APPARATUS ($1,885 MILLION, 29 PER CENT), PEARLS, PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES ($1,640 MILLION, + 150 PER CENT), AND OFFICE MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT ($912 MILLION, + 48 PER CENT).

BY COUNTRY, INCREASES IN AIRBORNE IMPORTS FROM JAPAN WERE LARGELY DUE TO RISES IN WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($1,224 MILLION,

+ 38 PER CENT), AND FROM THE U.S.A., RISES IN ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND PARTS FOR COMPUTERS ($520 MILLIÓN, EIGHT PER CENT), GINSENG ($86 MILLION, + NINE PER CENT), WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($76 MILLION, + 38 PER CENT) AND DIAMONDS ($50 MILLION, 81 PER CENT).

+

REMARKABLE INCREASES WERE NOTED IN ARRIVALS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($1,141 MILLION, + 56 PER CENT), FROM SWITZERLAND AND OF DIAMONDS ($952 MILLION, + 480 PER CENT FROM ISRAEL VIA AIR.

INCREASES WERE ALSO FOUND IN AIRBORNE RE-EXPORTS WITH MAJOR ITEMS LIKE PEARLS, PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES ($935 MILLION, + 71 PER CENT), WATCHES AND CLOCKS ($812 MILLION, 13 PER CENT), THERMIONIC, COLD CATHODE AND PHOTO-CATHODE VALVES AND TUBES AND MISCELLANEOUS ELECTRICAL MACHINERY ($495 MILLION, 24 PER CENT) AS WELL AS PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND PHOTO GRAPHIC APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT ($209 MILLION, 25 PER CENT).

MAIN MARKETS FOR AIRBORNE RE-EXPORTS INCLUDED JAPAN ($1,316 MILLION, + 80 PER CENT), TAIWAN ($585 MILLION, +43 PER CENT) SINGAPORE ($528 MILLION, + 33 PER CENT) AND THE U.S.A. ($452 MILLION, + 40 PER CENT) WHICH TOGETHER ABSORBED ABOUT 69 PER CENT OF RE-EXPORTS DESPATCHED FROM HONG KONG BY AIR DURING 1978.

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