XN000022-1983-11-23 — Page 17

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1983

+WHILE THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC BACKGROUND TO THE TDC'S WORK LAST YEAR WAS CLEARLY UNFAVOURABLE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR POINT TO AN UPTURN IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE, SHE SAID.

MISS DUNN POINTED OUT THAT THIS HAD BEEN CLEARLY EVIDENT FROM HONG KONG'S TRADE FIGURES IN RECENT MONTHS.

SHE ADDED THAT AMONG HONG KONG'S MAJOR MARKETS, THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY HAD SHOWN SIGNS THAT THE RECOVERY IN DEMAND SHOULD BE SUSTAINED WHILE IN EUROPE, THIS TREND HAD BEEN LESS WELL DEFINED.

BUT SHE EXPRESSED THE BELIEF THAT THERE WERE GROUNDS FOR HOPE THAT THE RECOVERY IN EUROPE WOULD BE MORE PRONOUNCED IN 1984.

SHE SAID, ALTHOUGH THE LOWER VALUE OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR HAS PLACED SOME STRAINS ON OUR FINANCES, GIVEN THAT MOST OF OUR EXPENSES ARE OVERSEAS, WE ARE PLANNING FOR AN EXPANDED, DYNAMIC AND COST-EFFECTIVE PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES.+

REVIEWING 1982-83, MISS DUNN SAID THAT THE WORLDWIDE ECONOMIC RECESSION HAD AFFECTED THE DEMAND FOR CONSUMER MANUFACTURES IN HONG KONG'S MAJOR MARKETS BUT THE COUNCIL HAD CONTINUED TO MAINTAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES.

+THESE INCLUDED ATTENDANCE AT 28 TRADE FAIRS AND EXHIBITIONS, 10 OUTWARD BUSINESS GROUPS, FOUR HIGH LEVEL ECONOMIC MISSIONS OVERSEAS, 11 RESEARCH PROJECTS AND 12 GENERAL PROMOTIONAL AND PUBLICITY EVENTS, AMONG A TOTAL OF SOME 80 MAJOR PROJECTS DURING THE YEAR, SHE SAID.

FOR THE JAPANESE MARKET, THE TDC DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF HIGH PROFILE PROMOTIONS WITH WELL-KNOWN CHAIN STORE GROUPS IN A BID TO OVERCOME THE DIFFICULTIES IN PENETRATING THE COMPLEX JAPANESE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

TO TACKLE THE IMAGE+ PROBLEM CONNECTED WITH HONG KONG PRODUCTS, THE COUNCIL STAGED A MAJOR FASHION GALA OF TOP QUALITY HONG KONG GARMENTS IN TOKYO, DRAWING SOME 3 000 TRADE AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS AND THE MEDIA.

+1 AM GLAD TO SAY THAT WE ARE ALREADY BEGINNING TO SEE THE FRUITS OF THESE EFFORTS IN THIS CURRENT YEAR AND IT IS OUR AIM TO CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS IN THIS MARKET, MISS DUNN SAID.

SHE POINTED OUT THAT A SIGNIFICANT NEW INITIATIVE DURING THE YEAR HAD BEEN THE FIRST TDC HONG KONG ECONOMIC DELEGATION TO CHINA.

THE DELEGATION VISITED BEIJING, SHANGHAI, GUANGZHOU AND SHENZHEN.

THE VISIT HELPED TO OPEN NEW CHANNELS FOR HONG KONG'S FAST DEVELOPING TRADE WITH CHINA IN VARIOUS PROVINCES AND ESTABLISHED CONTACTS WITH THE CHINESE COMMITTEE FOR THE PROMOTION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE (CCPIT), THE CHINESE COUNTERPART OF THE TDC.

/+THESE CONTACTS