XN000022-1983-04-13 — Page 24

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1983

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LORD COCKFIELD VISITS ELECTRONICS FACTORY AND CONTAINER PORT

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THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRADE, LORD COCKFIELD TODAY (WEDNESDAY) VISITED AN ELECTRONICS FACTORY AND A CONTAINER TERMINAL IN KWAI CHUNG.

ACCOMPANIED BY THE SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY,

MR E.P. HO AND THE SENIOR BRITISH TRADE COMMISSIONER, MR CHRISTIAN ADAMS. LORD COCKFIELD ARRIVED AT ELECTRONICS DEVICES LTD AT KWAI CHEONG ROAD WHERE HE WAS WELCOMED BY THE FACTORY'S MANAGING DIRECTOR, MR TOMMY ZAU.

THE FACTORY, ESTABLISHED IN 1969, IS A JOINT VENTURE BY HONG KONG AND THE NETHERLANDS' INTERESTS. IT MANUFACTURES A WIDE RANGE OF ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS SUCH AS SMALL SIGNAL TRANSISTORS, POWER TRANSISTORS, PROFESSIONAL MICRO-MINIATURE TRANSISTORS, HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSISTORS AND DIODES WHICH ARE BASIC COMPONENTS

IN MANY ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES SUCH AS TELEVISION, VIDEO TELEVISION AND RADIO.

MOST OF THE FINISHED PRODUCTS - AMOUNTING TO 1.3 BILLION UNITS A YEAR, OR 4.3 MILLION UNITS A DAY - ARE EXPORTED TO EUROPE, AMERICA AND THE FAR EAST, WHILE THE REMAINDER ARE FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION.

LORD COCKFIELD ALSO VISITED THE PREMISES OF MODERN TERMINALS LTD (MTL), PART OF THE KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER TERMINAL WHICH RANKS AMONG THE TOP THREE CONTAINER TERMINALS IN THE WORLD. HE WAS MET BY THE COMPANY'S MANAGING DIRECTOR, MR J.M.E. LEESE AND THE FINANCIAL DIRECTOR, MR W.S. PIRIE.

MODERN TERMINALS LTD. ESTABLISHED IN HONG KONG IN 1969 EMPLOYS NEARLY 1 300 STAFF. ITS TWO BERTHS, WITH LENGTHS OF 305 METRES AND 473 METRES, NOW ACCOMMODATE OVER 1 300 VESSELS A YEAR - OR BETWEEN THREE TO FOUR SHIPS A DAY.

THIRTY-NINE SHIPPING LINES USE THE COMPANY'S FACILITIES, WHICH COMPRISE TWO GROUND-LEVEL CONTAINER FREIGHT STATIONS AND A TWO-STOREY FREIGHT STATION WHICH IS PART OF A TWELVE-STOREY COMPLEX. THIS COMPLEX INCLUDES TEN STOREYS OF WAREHOUSE AREA AND OFFICES, AS WELL AS THE TERMINAL CONTROL ROOM.

DURING 1982, MTL HANDLED A TOTAL OF 664 360 TEUS (TWENTY- FOOT EQUIVALENTS, THE STANDARD MEASURE OF CONTAINER THROUGHPUT), AND ALSO 1 610 252 FREIGHT TONS THROUGH THE CONTAINER FREIGHT STATIONS. THE TERMINAL OPERATIONS ARE CONTROLLED BY AN ON-LINE 24-HOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM WHICH IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN HONG KONG.