XN000022-1984-12-11 — Page 2

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1984

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EVERY PROSPECT OF PROSPEROUS FUTURE FOR HONG KONG, GOVERNOR SAYS IN JAPAN

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HONG KONG HAS EVERY PROSPECT OF A PROSPEROUS FUTURE, GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, TOLD A GATHERING OF PROMINENT JAPANESE BUSINESSMEN IN TOKYO TODAY.

THE

THE SINO-BRITISH DRAFT AGREEMENT ON THE FUTURE HAD REMOVED MUCH OF THE UNCERTAINTY WHICH HAD AFFECTED CONFIDENCE AND INVESTMENT IN THE LAST TWO YEARS. THE REACTION TO THE DRAFT AGREEMENT HAD INDICATED THAT, ALTHOUGH THEY STILL HAD SOME UNDERSTANDABLE CONCERNS, THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ACCEPTED IT AS A BASIS ON WHICH THEY COULD BUILD A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE, THE GOVERNOR SAID.

+OTHER COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR HONG KONG'S MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS SUCH AS JAPAN, HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN HELPING TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE AGREEMENT, SIR EDWARD SAID.

THE GOVERNOR WAS SPEAKING AT THE SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE HONG KONG-JAPAN AND JAPAN-HONG KONG BUSINESS COOPERATION COMMITTEES IN THE KEIDANREN, THE FEDERATION OF ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS, IN TOKYO THIS MORNING. HÉ WAS CONFIDENT THAT THE OPPORTUNITIES EXISTED FOR STRENGTHENING THE PRESENT ECONOMIC LINKS BETWEEN JAPAN AND HONG KONG IN TRADE IN INVESTMENT, IN BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, FOR THE BENEFIT OF BOTH SIDES.

SPEAKING ON +PRESENT REALITIES AND FUTURE PROPECTS+, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA HAD REMOVED MUCH OF THE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT HONG KONG'S FUTURE.

+THE PRESENT STATE OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMY IS HEALTHY. OUR

UNEMPLOYMENT CURRENCY IS STABLE. OUR EXPORT PERFORMANCE IS STRONG. IS LOW AND INVESTMENT IS REVIVING, SIR EDWARD TOLD HIS AUDIENCE.

+HONG KONG'S CONTINUED HEALTH IS VITALLY DEPENDENT ON TRADE. SOME 90 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING OUTPUT IS EVENTUALLY EXPORTED AND THE VALUE OF ITS TOTAL TRADE IN GOODS AMOUNTS TO OVER 180 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF ITS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.+

HONG KONG, THE GOVERNOR SAID, WAS THEREFORE ALWAYS VULNERABLE TO EXTERNAL FACTORS, AND ITS ECONOMY HAD TO ADJUST CONSTANTLY TO THE CHANGING WORLD TRADING ENVIRONMENT WITHIN WHICH IT HAD TO OPERATE.

ITS SUCCESS IN DOING SO WAS CLEARLY SHOWN BY THE HIGH RATE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH WHICH IT HAD ACHIEVED ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.

OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HONG KONG'S GDP HAD GROWN BY AN AVERAGE OF SEVEN PER CENT IN REAL TERMS AND PER CAPITA GDP HAD GROWN BY AN AVERAGE OF FIVE PER CENT PER YEAR. EXPECTED TO BE EIGHT PER CENT IN REAL TERMS, HE

THE GDP IN 1984 WAS SAID.

/INVESTMENT IN