XN000022-1982-04-23 — Page 10

FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1982

9.

TEXTILES ARE MAINSTAY OF ECONOMY, TICD CHIEF SAYS

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THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IS GOING TO BE THE MAINSTAY OF HONG KONG'S INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY FOR A LONG TIME TO COME DESPITE THE THREAT FROM SHORT SIGHTED, SELF-DEFEATING ATTITUDES SUCH :3 THOSE SHOWN RECENTLY BY THE EEC, THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS, MR BILL DORWARD SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).

OFFICIATING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE NEW HEADQUARTERS OF WING TAI EXPORTERS LTD AT HING YIP STREET, KWUN TONG, MR DORWARD ASSURED THE INDUSTRY THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD FIGHT TO DEFEND ITS INTERESTS AGAINST PROTECTIONISM.

PAYING TRIBUTE TO MR CHRISTOPHER CHENG, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE COMPANY AND HIS FAMILY FOR THE IR CONTRIBUTION TO HONG KONG'S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, HE SAID: THE WING TAI STORY IS, IN A WAY, A LIVING PARALLEL TO THE HONG KONG STORY. EXPANSIÓN FROM A HANDFUL OF WORKERS IN THE MID-FIFTIES, TO 8 000 IN A MILLION SQUARE FEET OF FACTORY SPACE TODAY, IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY. IN BEING IMPRESSED BY THE QUANTITY, LET US NOT OVERLOOK THE QUALITY,

→THE PERSISTENT MYTH OF SWEAT SHOPS AND CHEAP LABOUR - WHICH IS CYNICALLY USED TO SUPPORT CLAIMS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION FROM HONG KONG - IS A DISHONEST DENIAL OF THE TRUTH THAT BUYERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD KEEP COMING BACK IN LARGE NUMBERS BECAUSE THEY, AND EVENTUALLY THAT MOST IMPORTANT LINK IN THE CHAIN, THE CONSUMER, GET VALUE FOR MONEY. NOT CHEAPNESS, VALUE.+

MR DORWARD WAS OF THE OPINION THAT OF THE FACTORIES BEING ARTIFICIALLY PRESERVED BY PROTECTIONISM IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA TODAY, THERE WERE MORE WHICH COMPARED WITH THE WING TAI OF 1957 THAN THE WING TAI OF 1982, +AND FOR WING TAI YOU CAN READ HONG KONG, HE ADDED.

HE REFERRED TO THE COMPANY'S RECENT CAPITAL INVESTMENT WHICH INCLUDED THE PURCHASE OF A COMPUTER CONTROLLED CUTTING MACHINE TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY AND COMPETITIVENESS. MR DORWARD SAID THAT THIS MACHINE - ONE OF FOUR EITHER OPERATING OR ABOUT TO BE INSTALLED BY LEADING GARMENT FACTORIES IN HONG KONG AT A COST OF OVER $2 MILLION EACH - SYMBOLISED THE DETERMINATION OF OUR GARMENT MANUFACTURERS TO PRESERVE AND MAINTAIN THE IR PRE-EMINENCE IN WORLD MARKETS.

+1 SUBSCRIBE FULLY TO THE CONCEPT OF DIVERSIFICATION OF HONG KONG INDUSTRY, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD STOP OR DISCOURAGE THE PRODUCTION OF WHAT WE MAKE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD, THE KIND OF GARMENTS CONSUMERS EVERYWHERE WANT TO BUY, HE CONCLUDED.

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