XN000022-1979-12-18 — Page 10

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1979

POSTAL BOOKINGS FOR PERFORMANCES IN THE TSUEN WAN TOWN HALL AUDITORIUM WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM TODAY UNTIL JANUARY 14, LECTURE ROOM ADMISSION IS FREE.

PROGRAMME AND BOOKING FOLDERS ARE AVAILABLE FROM CITY DISTRICT OFFICES, DISTRICT OFFICES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION AND ALL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

DETAILS OF THE OUTDOOR PROGRAMME WILL BE CONTAINED IN THE FESTIVAL DIARY, WHICH WILL BE ISSUED WHEN THE TSUEN WAN TOWN HALL BOX OFFICE OPENS ON JANUARY 19.

LOCAL INDIAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTES TO HK'S ECONOMY

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A REASONABLE ESTIMATE OF THE INDIAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY'S SHARE OF HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE IN THE FIRST TEN MONTHS THIS YEAR AMOUNTED TO ABOUT $13 000 MILLION - OR ONE-TENTH OF THE TOTAL EXTERNAL TRADE.

THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS, MR. WILLIAM DORWARD, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY) THAT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COMMUNITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO HONG KONG WAS NOT ALWAYS FULLY APPRECIATED. BESIDES CONSIDERABLE INVOLVEMENT IN THE IMPORT, EXPORT AND RETAIL FIELDS, THE COMMUNITY HAD OTHER SUBSTANTIAL VENTURES IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES AND THE SERVICE SECTORS, NOTABLY IN HOTELS AND BANKING.

SPEAKING TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS AT AN INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LUNCHEON, MR. DORWARD SAID1 +DIVERSIFICATION, WHICH IS VERY MUCH IN OUR THOUGHT AT THE MOMENT, DOES NOT MERELY MEAN DIVERSIFICATION OF INDUSTRIES. IT ALSO MEANS THE SEEKING OUT AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MARKETS TO REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE ON THE HANDFUL OF MAJOR DEVELOPED COUNTRIES TO WHOM THE BULK OF OUR EXPORT FLOW.

+IT IS VERY WELL TO TALK OF DEVELOPING NEW MARKETS, BUT IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE. THERE IS TRADE TO BE DONE, A GREAT DEAL OF IT IN, FOR EXAMPLE, WEST AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST BUT THESE ARE NOT MARKETS FOR THE UNINITIATED. THEY HAVE THEIR PECULIARITIES, NOT ONLY IN WHAT THEY REQUIRE BUT ALSO IN THE WAY THEY DO BUSINESS, + HE SAID.

IT WAS VERY LARGELY THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF HONG KONG'S INDIAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY THAT OUR EXPORTS TO THESE MARKETS HAD BEEN CLIMBING STEADILY IN RECENT YEARS.

+I KNOW THAT THIS IS, IN PART AT LEAST, MADE POSSIBLE BY THE WIDE NETWORK OF FAMILIES AND BUSINESS CONNECTION WHICH YOUR ENTERPRISING FELLOW COUNTRYMEN HAVE ESTABLISHED ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT IS A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT, AND ONE FOR WHICH HONG KONG OWES YOU A DEBT OF GRATITUDE,+ SAID MR. DORWARD.

WHEN THE INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WAS FOUNDED AT THE END OF 1952 IT HAD LESS THAN 60 MEMBERS. MEMBERSHIP NOW STANDS AT ABOUT 500.

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