XN000022-1983-09-07 — Page 2

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1983

PRESS FREEDOM TREASURED BY GOVERNMENT

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SIR PHILIP

THE GOVERNMENT TREASURES FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND LISTENS TO PUBLIC OPINION, THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE SAID THIS (WEDNESDAY) EVENING.

THE CHANNELS THROUGH WHICH PUBLIC OPINION MIGHT BE EXPRESSED WERE MANY AND VARIED, SPREADING OUTWARDS AND DOWNWARDS FROM THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS, HE SAID.

+WE VALUE THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE MEDIA IN FURTHERING TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PUBLIC.

*WE STUDY ALSO THE VIEWS OF THE PRESS, NO MATTER HOW OUTSPOKEN. PUBLIC OPINION AND THE VIEWS OF THE PRESS INFLUENCE THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISIONS. PARTICULARLY WHEN STRONGLY HELD FEELINGS ARE SUPPORTED BY A FAIR REHEARSAL OF THE FACTS AND COGENT ARGUMENT, SIR PHILIP ADDED.

THE ACTING GOVERNOR WAS SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE NEW SING PAO BUILDING.

HE NOTED THAT HONG KONG ITSELF HAD GROWN UP TO BECOME A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CITY WITH A DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY AND A SOPHISTICATED SOCIETY WHICH HAD A RECOGNISABLE IDENTITY OF ITS OWN.

HOWEVER, ONE CHARACTERISTIC OF HONG KONG HAD REMAINED UNCHANGED, THAT WAS, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, HE SAID.

SIR PHILIP ALSO SAID THE SING PAO DAILY NEWS HAD, SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN 1939, BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR NEWSPAPERS IN HONG KONG, GROWING FROM A FOUR-PAGE BLACK AND WHITE COPY TO THE PRESENT-DAY 24 PAGES, WITH FULL-COLOUR PRODUCTION.

+THIS MAGNIFICENT 25-STOREY BUILDING IS A FITTING TRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS STORY OF THIS NEWSPAPER AND A CLEAR INDICATION OF ITS DETERMINATION TO CONTINUE TO SERVE ITS READERSHIP,+ HE SAID.

PRICE, VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE

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THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS BOTH ROSE, ON AVERAGE, BY 5 PER CENT SO THAT, FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, PRICES WERE UP BY 5 PER CENT IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1983 AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1982, ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

MEANWHILE, THE PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 7 PER CENT.

AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DROPPED BY 1 PER CENT. THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 9 PER CENT AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 6 PER CENT SO THAT AN 8 PER CENT INCREASE WAS RECORDED IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS. MEANWHILE, THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY 4 PER CENT.

/A COMPARISON