XN000022-1981-07-28 — Page 3

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TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1981

MR MILLS POINTED OUT THAT THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEXTILE AND GARMENT INDUSTRIES TO HONG KONG'S ECONOMY WAS PROBABLY WITHOUT PARALLEL. +LAST YEAR IT EMPLOYED 41 PER CENT OF OUR

INDUSTRIAL WORK FORCE, AND THEIR COMBINED OUTPUT ACCOUNTED FOR 41 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS. AND APPROXIMATELY TWO-THIRDS OF OUR EXPORTS OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS WERE SUBJECT TO QUANTITATIVE LIMITS AS A RESULT OF BILATERAL AGREEMENTS NEGOTIATED UNDER THE MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT,+ HE SAID.

THE GATT TEXTILE COMMITTEE HAD ALREADY MET THREE TIMES IN GENEVA TO CONSIDER THE FUTURE OF THE MFA. THE FIRST TWO MEETINGS, IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR AND IN MAY THIS YEAR, WERE BASICALLY NON-EVENTS, IN AS MUCH AS NONE OF THE IMPORTING COUNTRIES WERE READY TO NEGOTIATE. ROUGHLY THE SAME COULD BE SAID OF THE TEXTILES COMMITTEE MEETING THAT WAS HELD EARLIER THIS MONTH, SAID MR MILLS. THE MEETING ENDED WITH NO SUBSTANTIVE AGREEMENT, EXCEPT FOR A DECISION TO MEET AGAIN IN THE LATTER PART OF SEPTEMBER AND POSSIBLY AGAIN IN MID-NOVEMBER.

+BUT THE MEETING, ALTHOUGH DISAPPOINTING IN TERMS OF ITS OUTCOME, WAS AT LEAST A START. THE DEVELOPING EXPORTING COUNTRIES WERE ABLE TO PRESENT SPECIFIC PROPOSALS, WHILE THE DEVELOPED IMPORTING COUNTRIES OUTLINED, WITH VARYING DEGREES OF PRECISION, THEIR VIEWS ON THE FUTURE OF THE MFA.

+WHAT THE DEVELOPED IMPORTING COUNTRIES IN GENERAL, AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY IN PARTICULAR, SAID AT THE MEETING WAS PREDICTABLE. UNEMPLOYMENT IS HIGH, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IS LOW - AS IS THE CONSUMPTION OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS FACTORIES ARE BEING CLOSED, AND JOBS ARE BEING LOST IN THEIR TEXTILES AND CLOTHING INDUSTRIES.

THEREFORE, THE EEC CONCLUDED, AN AUSTERE GLOBAL VIEW WILL HAVE TO BE TAKEN OF BASE LEVELS, GROWTH AND FLEXIBILITY IN RESPECT OF IMPORTS FROM SO CALLED +LOW COST+ SOURCES- A GROWTH RATE FOR SUCH IMPORTS OF SIX PER CENT WOULD NOT BE TREATED LESS FAVOURABLY THAN NEW ENTRANTS AND SMALL SUPPLIERS, SAID MR MILLS.

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+ALL THIS SOUNDS LIKE REGURGITATION OF THE POINTS - ONE COULD HARDLY CALL THEM ARGUMENTS ADDUCED BY THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY IN 1977, AND REFLECT ONE SAD FACT. ALTHOUGH THE WHOLE 20-YEAR SERIES OF MULTI-LATERAL TEXTILE ARRANGEMENTS WERE DESIGNED EXPLICITLY TO MODERATE TEMPORARILY THE INFLUENCE OF COMPETITIVE EXPORTS, THEIR EXISTENCE IS NOW SO MUCH TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY THE INDUSTRIES OF THE DEVELOPED IMPORTING COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE ENJOYED PROTECTION, THAT THEY NO LONGER ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY THEM, BUT MERELY CALL FOR THEIR INTENSIFICATION,+ HE COMMENTED.

BUT, UNLIKE IN 1977, THE DEVELOPING EXPORTING COUNTRIES ARE NO LONGER IN DISARRAY, SAID MR MILLS.

AT THIS MONTH'S TEXTILES COMMITTEE MEETING, THE DEVELOPING EXPORTING COUNTRIES NOT ONLY REJECTED THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY'S ARGUMENTS, BUT WERE ALSO ABLE TO SAY QUITE CATEGORICALLY THAT CERTAIN OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY'S AIMS WERE NOT NEGOTIABLE. AS A GROUP THEY WERE ABLE TO PUT ON THE TABLE A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC PROPOSALS.

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