XN000022-1983-10-26 — Page 20

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1983

MACAU GOVERNOR VISITS HONG KONG

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THE GOVERNOR OF MACAU, REAR ADMIRAL ALMEIDA E COSTA, TODAY (WEDNESDAY) CALLED ON THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, AND HAD LUNCH WITH HIM IN GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

REAR ADMIRAL ALMEIDA E COSTA'S VISIT IS PART OF THE REGULAR EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE GOVERNORS OF THE TWO TERRITORIES ON MATTERS OF MUTUAL INTEREST.

TRADE FIGURES SHOW BIG EXPORT RISE

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DOMESTIC EXPORTS, AT $9 665 MILLION IN SEPTEMBER 1983, WERE 34 PER CENT OR $2 447 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

RE-EXPORTS, AT $5 068 MILLION, ALSO INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY, BY 36 PER CENT OR $1 346 MILLION OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

+THUS, TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE BY 35 PER CENT OR $3 793 MILLION TO REACH $14 733 MILLION IN SEPTEMBER, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT.

WITH IMPORTS AT $15 494 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 31 PER CENT OR $3 668 MILLION, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR WAS $761 MILLION.

THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY TO FIVE PER CENT FROM SEVEN PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT PUTTING LAST MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1983 WAS 20 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR.

BOTH DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS, WHICH MAKE UP TOTAL EXPORTS, INCREASED BY 20 PER CENT. AS THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS 17 PER CENT, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR NARROWED CONSIDERABLY TO NINE PER CENT, FROM 11 PER CENT IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF 1982.

COMMENTING ON THESE LATEST COMPARATIVE VALUES OF EXPORTS, RE-EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE INCREASES IN REAL TERMS (AFTER ALLOWING FOR THE EFFECTS OF PRICE INCREASES) WOULD ALSO BE SUBSTANTIAL.

+THESE FIGURES POINT TO A CONTINUATION OF THE EXPORT-LED ECONOMIC RECOVERY, HE SAID.

A TABLE GIVING THE PROVISIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE FIGURES FOR SEPTEMBER 1983 IS ATTACHED.

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