XN000022-1982-02-17 — Page 2

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1982

GARMENT MANUFACTURERS URGED TO EXPLORE JAPANESE MARKET

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THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS, MR BILL DORWARD TODAY (WEDNESDAY) URGED HONG KONG GARMENT MANUFACTURERS TO MAKE A SERIOUS AND DETERMINED EFFORT TO DEVELOP EXPORTS TO JAPAN.

ADDRESSING THE SPRING DINNER OF THE FEDERATION OF HONG KONG GARMENT MANUFACTURERS, MR DORWARD SAID THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE MARKET - THE LAST MAJOR ONE WHERE HONG KONG WAS NOT REQUIRED TO EXERCISE EXPORT RESTRAINT WOULD BE INSURANCE AGAINST THE THREATENING CLOUD OF PROTECTIONISM HANGING OVER HONG KONG'S MAJOR NEGOTIATIONS THIS YEAR.

+ IT WAS GRATIFYING TO SEE GARMENT EXPORTS TO JAPAN PUT ON A HEALTHY GROWTH LAST YEAR, BUT THE FIGURE OF 60 PER CENT IS LESS IMPRESSIVE WHEN ONE LOOKS AT THE VALUE - $1 125 MILLION - AS COMPARED WITH THE $10 700 MILLION EARNED FROM GARMENT EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES, HE SAID.

COMMENTING ON A REPETITION OF REASONS FREQUENTLY GIVEN FOR HONG KONG'S RELATIVELY POOR PERFORMANCE IN JAPANESE MARKET. MR DORWARD SAID, AS THE WORLD'S LARGEST GARMENT EXPORTERS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO SEE HOW WE CAN BE DOING SO MUCH WRONG IN JAPAN WHEN WE ARE OBVIOUSLY DOING SOMETHING RIGHT IN THE REST OF THE WORLD.+

HE RECOMMENDED GARMENT MANUFACTURERS TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO THIS PUZZLE IN THEIR EFFORTS TO DEVELOP EXPORTS TO JAPAN,

ON THE FORTHCOMING BI-LATERAL NEGOTIATIONS, MR DORWARD CAUTIONED THAT HONG KONG NEGOTIATORS WILL BE FACED IN 1982 WITH POLITICALLY POWERFUL DEMANDS AND THREATS BASED ON POLICIES WHICH, SAID MR DORWARD, WERE OPENLY HOSTILE TO OUR PAST SUCCESS AND WHICH ACTUALLY SOUGHT TO DAMAGE OUR INTERESTS, NOT BECAUSE WE WERE THE CAUSE OF THEIR PROBLEMS BUT RATHER AS AN ACT OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY IN THE FACE OF DOMESTIC PRESSURES.

REVIEWING THE GARMENT INDUSTRY'S PERFORMANCE OVER THE PAST YEAR, MR DORWARD REMARKED THAT EMPLOYMENT IN THE INDUSTRY GREW BY ABOUT 2.5 PER CENT ELECTRICITY CONSUMED BY THE GARMENT SECTOR ROSE BY ABOUT 10 PER CENT OVER THE YEAR BEFORE, WHEN THE AVERAGE RISE FOR ALL INDUSTRY WAS ONLY ABOUT THREE PER CENT.

QUOTA UTILISATION FOR GARMENTS REACHED 92 PER CENT AND 79 PER CENT FOR THE USA AND EEC RESPECTIVELY IN 1981 AS COMPARED WITH 87 PER CENT AND 83 PER CENT IN 1980.

+THIS IS ALTOGETHER A REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE IN A DIFFICULT YEAR AND IS A TRIBUTE TO ALL CONCERNED IN THE INDUSTRY WHICH HAS ACHIEVED THE STATUS OF WORLD LEADER IN EXPORTS OF FINISHED GARMENTS,+ HE SAID.

+ IT IS AN EVEN MORE REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE WHEN IT IS REMEMBERED THAT TWO THIRDS OF OUR TEXTILE EXPORTS ARE SUBJECT TO QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS AND THEIR GROWTH IN VOLUME TERMS IS THEREFORE VERY LIMITED. FOR MOST OF THE MAJOR CATEGORIES OF GARMENTS IT IS ABOUT TWO OR THREE PER CENT A YEAR. FOR WOOL PRODUCTS TO THE UNITED STATES, IT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE THAN ONE PER CENT, MR DORWARD CONCLUDED.

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