XN000022-1986-07-18 — Page 4

N

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1986

+

+HONG KONG IS THE WORLD'S 15TH LARGEST EXPORTING ECONOMY AND 16TH LARGEST IN TERMS OF IMPORTS. IN TERMS OF TOTAL TRADE WE ARE THE WORLD'S 13TH LARGEST TRADER. FEW OTHER ECONOMIES

• CAN RIVAL US IN THIS HIGH DEGREE OF RELIANCE ON EXTERNAL TRADE,+ HE SAID.

TURNING TO TRADE POLICY, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT HONG KONG BELIEVED IN, AND PRACTISED, FREE TRADE.

IT HAS GENERATED A

+THIS POLICY HAS SERVED HONG KONG WELL. RISING STANDARD OF LIVING FOR OUR POPULATION, HE SAID,

IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING COMPETITION FROM NEIGHBOUR ING

AND AN EXPAND ING COUNTRIES, RISING PRODUCTION AND LABOUR COSTS, POPULATION WITH RISING EXPECTATIONS, THERE HAD BEEN A SHIFT INTO HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS.

+THE RESULTING INCREASE IN VALUE-ADDED IN OUR PRODUCTS HAS ENABLED US TO ACHIEVE BETTER ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND TO RAISE THE STANDARD OF LIVING OF OUR WORKERS THROUGH RISING REAL WAGES, IMPROVED CONDITIONS OF WORK, AND BETTER HOUSING AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HE POINTED OUT.

SIR EDWARD ALSO MENTIONED THE BLOSSOMING OF CULTURAL LIFE IN HONG KONG. TODAY, HONG KONG IS PERHAPS UNRIVALLED IN ASIA FOR THE EXUBERANCE AND VARIETY OF ITS CULTURAL SCENE OR FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXIST FOR PEOPLE TO EXPRESS THEIR ARTISTIC TALENTS, + HE NOTED.

IN THE ARTS FESTIVAL, THE ASIAN ARTS FESTIVAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, HONG KONG PLAYED HOST TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST CREATIVE PERFORMERS, MUSICIANS AND DIRECTORS.

+WITH SUCH A VIBRANT CULTURAL SCENE, HONG KONG HAS BECOME FAR MORE THAN SIMPLY A PLACE TO DO BUSINESS. IT IS AN ENRICHING AND EXCITING CITY TO LIVE IN.+

SIR EDWARD THEN REFERRED TO THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION WHICH, HE SAID, HAD REMOVED MUCH OF THE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT HONG KONG'S FUTURE.

HE EXPLAINED THAT THE ESSENCE OF THE AGREEMENT WAS THAT HONG KONG WOULD AFTER 1997 CONTINUE TO FUNCTION MUCH AS IT DID TODAY.

IT PROVIDED, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT HONG KONG WOULD CONTINUE TO HAVE ITS OWN EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE AND INDEPENDENT JUDICIAL POWER, THAT THE LAWS AND LEGAL SYSTEM SHOULD REMAIN THAT THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS WOULD CONTINUES THAT RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS WOULD BE MAINTAINED; THAT PRIVATE PROPERTY AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT WOULD BE PROTECTED BY LAW; AND THAT HONG KONG'S FREE PORT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKETS, THE FREE FLOW OF CAPITAL AND THE FREELY CONVERTIBLE HONG KONG DOLLAR WOULD ALL CONTINUE.

/+IN SHORT