XN000022-1986-07-01 — Page 10

TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1986

JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG SIGNIFICANT

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THERE HAVE BEEN MORE CASES OR PROJECTS OF JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG THAN IN ANY OTHER ASIAN ECONOMY. THE DIRECTOR OF INDUSTRY, MR K.Y. YEUNG, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).

SPEAKING AT A SYMPOSIUM ORGANISED BY THE JAPAN EXTERNAL TRADE ORGANISATION IN TOKYO, MR YEUNG POINTED OUT THAT HONG KONG'S SHARE AMOUNTED TO SOME 2 299 CASES (OR 21 PER CENT) OUT OF AN ASIAN TOTAL OF 10 844.

+AND THE VALUE OF TOTAL JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG, ESTIMATED AT U.S.$2 799 MILLION, IS LARGER THAN THAT IN ANY EUROPEAN COUNTRY, OR IN SINGAPORE, TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA, MEXICO AND BRAZIL.+

+ADMITTEDLY, A GOOD DEAL OF THIS INVESTMENT IS IN HONG KONG'S FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR, BUT THE INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IS STILL SIGNIFICANT.

+THIS INVESTMENT IS REPRESENTED BY 127 FACTORIES INCLUDING 67 JOINT VENTURES, AND BY AN AGGREGATE INVESTMENT VALUE OF SOME V.S.$380 MILLION AS AT THE END OF MARCH 1986.

+MORE IMPORTANTLY THE QUALITY OF THE INVESTMENT HAS ALSO IMPROVED.+

MR YEUNG SAID THE REASONS FOR HONG KONG BEING AN IDEAL PLACE FOR INVESTMENT INCLUDED THE EXCELLENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT WHICH THE GOVERNMENT HAD CREATED AND NURTURED, THE MARKET OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY CHINA'S MODERNISATION AND HONG KONG'S POSITION AS A WINDOW TO THAT MARKET AND THE APPRECIATION IN EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE YEN IN RECENT MONTHS.

TURNING TO HONG KONG'S SIZE AS AN EXPORT MARKET, HE SAID: +DURING 1985 HONG KONG IMPORTED U.S.$6.8 BILLION WORTH OF RAW MATERIALS, SEMI-MANUFACTURES AND FINISHED PRODUCTS FROM JAPAN, OF WHICH U.S.$6.1 BILLION WAS RETAINED.+

+TAKEN ALL TOGETHER JAPANESE FIRMS MANUFACTURING IN HONG KONG REPORTED IN 1984 THAT NO LESS THAN 41 PER CENT OF THEIR TOTAL OUTPUT, WORTH U.S.$361 MILLION, WAS CONSUMED LOCALLY.

+ THE SORT OF PRODUCTS FOR WHICH THERE IS A SIZEABLE AND STABLE DEMAND IN HONG KONG INCLUDE HIGH QUALITY FABRICS, PRECISION TOOLS AND MOULDS, PRECISION METALS AND PLASTICS PARTS AND COMPONENTS WHICH WE REQUIRE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HIGHER QUALITY ELECTRONIC CONSUMER PRODUCTS, AND THE FULL RANGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT+.

/ON THE

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