XN000022-1981-05-14 — Page 8

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1981

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+THE HONG KONG TRADE STATISTICS SUMMARY+, BEING A SUMMARY REPORT ON HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE IN MARCH 1981, WILL SOON BE ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AT HK$3 PER COPY.

A MORE COMPREHENSIVE REPORT, HONG KONG EXTERNAL TRADE+, WITH A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MONTH'S IMPORTS, EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS, WILL BE PUBLISHED IN EARLY JUNE AND WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AT HK$10 PER COPY.

ENQUIRIES CONCERNING SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THESE REPORTS MAY BE DIRECTED TO THE INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT AT BASKERVILLE HOUSE, HONG KONG. (TEL NO1 5-214375).

NEED TO PROTECT HONG KONG'S TRADING REPUTATION STRESSED

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+PROTECTION OF OUR TRADING REPUTATION IS OUR FIRST LINE OF

DEFENSE AGAINST CREEPING PROTECTIONISM,+ SAID THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS, MR BILL DORWARD TODAY (MAY 14).

BECAUSE OF ITS COLOURFUL ORIGINS, HONG KONG WAS GOOD HEADLINE MATERIAL IN THE WORLD PRESS.

+ IT HAS A MYSTERIOUS, BIZARRE, BUCCANEERING, OPIUM DENS AND HAUNT OF PIRATES' FLAVOUR TO IT IN THE EYES OF MANY WESTERN READERS- AND IT IS NOT TOO LONG A STEP FROM THERE TO AN IMAGE OF SWEAT SHOPS, FIERCE COMPETITION, DANGEROUS GOODS AND FRAUDS, HE TOLD A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOON.

+GIVE A DOG A BAD NAME AND IT WILL STICK, HE SAID.

THIS WAS AGGRAVATED BY WHAT LESS REPUTABLE JOURNALISTS WERE PREPARED TO PUBLISH, SAID MR DORWARD, GIVING EXAMPLES.

A REPORT IN A SCOTTISH NEWSPAPER ABOUT A GLASGOW WOMAN'S TERRIFYING ENCOUNTER WITH BOMBS ON A NEW TERRITORIES ROAD WAS INVESTIGATED AND FOUND TO BE A HOAX BY GLASGOW STUDENTS.

EVEN MORE DAMAGING, PERHAPS, WAS A RECENT FRENCH TELEVISION PROGRAMME MADE BY A TEAM WHO CAME HERE, SO THEY SAID WHEN THEY ASKED FOR HELP, TO MAKE A SERIES CALLED 'ASIAN CHALLENGE', SAID MR DORWARD.

+THE PART OF THE PROGRAMME DEVOTED TO HONG KONG CONSISTED OF AN INTERVIEW ON GAMBLING IN MACAU, HORSE RACING AT HAPPY VALLEY - NEITHER OF WHICH SEEMS TO ME TO HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH THE ASIAN CHALLENGE - AND THE IR ALLEGATIONS, BASED ON ONE SO-CALLED EXAMPLE, THAT HONG KONG IS A COUNTERFEITER'S PARADISE' WHICH 'PILLAGES THE IDEAS OF OTHERS', HE SAID.

THE T.V. JOURNALISTS, APPARENTLY MOTIVATED BY THAT THEORY THAT ONE SHOULD NEVER SPOIL A STORY FOR THE SAKE OF GETTING THE FACTS RIGHT, WENT ON TO CLAIM, QUITE WRONGLY, THAT DESIGNS CANNOT BE REGISTERED IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.

/ACKNOWLEDGING THAT