XN000022-1983-06-10 — Page 6

FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 198;

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COMPREHENSIVE SHIPPING STATISTICS BEING PROVIDED

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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS, IS CONDUCTING A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON DEVELOPING A COMPUTER-AIDED SYSTEM FOR CHECKING CARGO MANIFESTS AGAINST TRADE DECLARATIONS.

THIS WAS DISCLOSED BY THE SENIOR STATISTICIAN OF THE TRADE STATISTICS BRANCH, CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, DR LUK CHI-MING, DURING A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF HONG KONG ISLAND.

UNDER THE SYSTEM, DATA CONTAINED IN TRADE DECLARATIONS SUCH AS THE NET QUANTITY AND TRADE VALUE OF SHIPMENTS, MAY BE CAPTURED AS WELL.

+THESE DATA, TOGETHER WITH THOSE AVAILABLE FROM CARGO MANIFESTS, MAY BE COMBINED TO PROVIDE MORE COMPREHENSIVE SHIPPING, PORTS AND CARGO STATISTICS,

HE SAID.

DR LUK ALSO REPORTED THAT A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM FOR COMPILING SHIPPING, PORTS AND CARGO STATISTICS, COVERING PORT UTILISATION, CARGO MOVEMENTS, SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF FLEET CARRYING HÔNG KONG'S IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, AS WELL AS SIMILAR ANALYSES ON TRANSHIPMENT CARGO HAD JUST BEEN DEVELOPED.

DATA GATHERED THROUGH THE SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR PROPER PLANNING OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PORT FACILITIES AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SHIPPING BUSINESS.

A SHIP REGISTER FILE CONTAINING 13 DATA ELEMENTS FOR SOME 3 700 SHIPS HAS BEEN SET UP TO COLLECT INFORMATION. IT WILL BE REGULARLY UPDATED ACCORDING TO THE SHIP INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT.

+DATA FOR THE COMPILATION OF SHIPPING, PORT AND CARGO STATISTICS ARE ALL SIMPLY EXTRACTED FROM EXISTING INFORMATION FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, AND THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL REPORTING BURDEN ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR, HE NOTED.

HOWEVER, OWING TO PRESENT MANPOWER RESOURCES, IT HAS BEEN DECIDED THAT INITIALLY, A 20 PER CENT SAMPLE OF CONSIGNMENTS LISTED IN THE CARGO MANIFEST IS TAKEN AND THEN GROSSED UP TO OBTAIN THE OVERALL TOTAL.

THERE ARE FOUR SERIES OF TABULATIONS: SHIPPING AND CARGO-ON-BOARD STATISTICS, PORT-BY-CARGO STATISTICS, CARGO- BY-PORT STATISTICS, AND TRANSHIPMENT CARGO STATISTICS.

THE STATISTICS SHOW THE TYPE OF GOODS SHIPPED BY SEA, THEIR GROSS WEIGHT AND VOLUME, AND THEIR PORTS OF ORIGIN AND DESTINATION,

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