XN000022-1986-11-21 — Page 2

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1986

HONG KONG ASSUMES MORE IMPORTANT ROLE

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HONG KONG NOW HAS AN IMPORTANCE FOR THE WESTERN WORLD FAR GREATER THAN AT ANY TIME IN ITS HISTORY, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID IN LONDON TODAY (FRIDAY).

+THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A BASE IN HONG KONG IN A FAMILIAR ENVIRONMENT OF LANGUAGE AND LAW FOR BUSINESS WITH CHINA AND THROUGHOUT THIS FAST DEVELOPING REGION IN WHICH LIVE ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD, SIR DAVID SAID IN AN ADDRESS TO THE DIPLOMATIC AND COMMONWEALTH WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF BRITAIN.

HE FOCUSSED ON THE POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE SINCE THE SIGNING IN 1984 OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION, AND EXPLAINED WHY HONG KONG FACED THE FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE.

+FASCINATING THOUGH ITS HISTORY HAS BEEN, IT IS IMPORTANT, NOT FOR WHAT IT HAS BEEN, BUT FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE TODAY AND BECAUSE OF THE FUTURE INTO WHICH IT IS MOVING, HE SAID IN DESCRIBING HONG KONG'S IMPORTANCE TO THE WEST AS A WINDOW ON CHINA AND THE PACIFIC.

HE EMPHASISED THAT SHREWD BUSINESSMEN WERE BEGINNING TO PERCEIVE THIS REGIONAL IMPORTANCE IN THE LONGER TERM.

AS EVIDENCE, HE POINTED TO OVERSEAS INVESTMENT IN THE SECOND CROSS HARBOUR TUNNEL, THE RECENT INVESTMENTS FROM AUSTRALIA IN PROPERTY AND IN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING, AND THE OPENING OF ADDITIONAL FOREIGN BANKS.

ANOTHER INDICATION WAS THAT THE AMERICAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY NOW OUTNUMBERED THE BRITISH.

SIR DAVID SAID THAT HONG KONG'S ECONOMY CONTINUED TO PERFORM CONSISTENTLY AND REMARKABLY WELL, DESPITE THE PROBLEMS THAT WERE BOUND TO ARISE FOR SUCH A SMALL AND CONGESTED PLACE WITH NO COMFORTING SUPPLY OF NATURAL RESOURCES TO ACT AS A SHEET ANCHOR.

AMONG OTHER THINGS, THERE WAS LITTLE DOUBT THAT THE LINKING OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR TO THE UNITED STATES DOLLAR HAD HELPED THE GROWTH OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS.

IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, DOMESTIC EXPORTS WERE SHOWING A YEAR ON YEAR GROWTH, IN REAL VALUE TERMS, OF 13 PER CENT. IMPORTS HAD ALSO INCREASED BY 18 PER CENT AND IMPORTS OF CAPITAL GOODS AND RETAINED IMPORTS OF INDUSTRIAL PLANT AND MACHINERY GREW BY 23 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

+THESE FIGURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. THEY DO NOT INDICATE AN ECONOMY THAT IS RUNNING DOWN BUT ONE THAT WITH FRESH INVESTMENT IS PREPARING FOR A NEW SURGE AHEAD, HE SAID.

/RBOMERINO