XN000022-1985-04-22 — Page 2

MONDA

22, 1985

'HK

AN IDEAL LINK WITH CHINA'

******

HONG KONG'S IDEAL AND UNIQUE SITUATION AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR COMMERCIAL LINKS WITH CHINA AND THE OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN REGION IS WELL-ESTABLISHED, THE CHIEF SECRETARY (DESIGNATE), MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID IN BRUSSELS.

MR AKERS-JONES, WHO IS CURRENTLY ON AN OVERSEAS TOUR IN EUROPE, VISITED BELGIUM LAST WEEK AND IS NOW IN GENEVA.

MEETING JOURNALISTS FROM BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS OVER LUNCH AT THE END OF LAST WEEK, MR AKERS-JONES URGED EUROPEAN BUSINESSMEN NOT TO MISS OUT ON THE OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED IN HONG KONG.

+THE COUNTRIES BORDERING THE PACIFIC AND IN PARTICULAR THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN, ARE ALREADY EXPANDING THEIR INVESTMENT IN AND BUSINESS LINKS WITH HONG KONG.

+NOW THAT THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG UP TO AND BEYOND 1997 HAS BEEN SIGNED, THE PROSPECTS FOR EXPANSION OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT BOTH IN HONG KONG AND IN CHINA AND THE SOUTH-EAST ASIAN REGION, VIA HONG KONG, ARE AS EXCITING AS AT ANY TIME IN HONG KONG'S HISTORY,+ HE SAID.

+EUROPEAN BUSINESS SHOULD TAKE CARE THAT THEY ARE NOT LEFT OUT IN THE COLD,+ MR AKERS-JONES POINTED OUT.

UNCERTAINTY EXPECTED FROM COMING MFA EXPIRY ******

THE EXPIRY OF THE MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT (MFA) IN MID-1986 INTRODUCES AN UNWELCOME ELEMENT OF UNCERTAINTY INTO THE TEXTILES AND CLOTHING SECTOR WHICH COMPRISES OVER 40 PER CENT OF OUR DOMESTIC EXPORTS, THE DIRECTOR OF TRADE, MR HAMISH MACLEOD, SAID TODAY (MONDAY).

MR MACLEOD WAS SPEAKING AT THE TWO-DAY U.S.-ASIA SEA/AIR FREIGHT CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE HONG KONG SHIPPERS' COUNCIL.

+ HAVE RECENTLY COME BACK FROM A MEETING IN MEXICO WITH THE OTHER COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY THESE RESTRAINTS, WHERE WE WERE CO-ORDINATING OUR POSITION FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS WHICH WILL START FORMALLY IN JULY THIS YEAR.

+WE SHALL BE SEEKING LIBERALISATION, AN AIM ALREADY AGREED AT THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT) MINISTERIAL MEETING IN NOVEMBER 1982.+

/HOWEVER, ME