XN000022-1987-10-31 — Page 2

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1987

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HONG KONG HAS RECORD OF RESILIENCE AND ADAPTABILITY

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HONG KONG'S SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES, BILL DORWARD, ON WEDNESDAY (OCTOBER 28) SAID THAT HONG KONG HAS SUCCESSFULLY ADAPTED TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGING AND OFTEN VERY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES THROUGHOUT ITS 150 YEARS OF EXISTENCE.

SPEAKING BEFORE A FULL-HOUSE MEETING OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB IN SAN FRANCISCO, MR DORWARD SAID THAT HONG KONG HAS MADE A VIRTUE OF ADVERSITY THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, WHETHER THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL, TO BECOME ONE OF SUCCESSFUL ECONOMIC ENTITIES IN THE WORLD.

PROBLEMS HAVE BREN THE MOST REMARKABLY

НЕ TRACED THE MANY PROBLEMS, MAINLY CAUSED BY EXTERNAL INFLUENCES, THAT HONG KONG HAS HAD TO SURVIVE, INCLUDING THE INFLUX of refugeeS, THE WATER SHORTAGES, THE TURBULENT MONTHS OF 1967, WORLD RECESSION AND MORE RECENTLY THE PROTECTIONIST PRESSURES FROM THE WEST.

YET DESPITE THESE PROVOCATIONS HONG KONG HAS CONTINUED BUILD ON ITS TRADITIONAL ENTREPOT ROLE FOR WHICH IT WAS CREATED AND TRADE WITH CHINA HAS BEEN NO EXCEPTION.

"HONG KONG BECAME A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE INTERFACE BETWEEN CHINA AND ITS BURGEONING CONTACTS WITH THE TRADING WORLD," MR DORWARD SAID.

"TODAY, HONG KONG HAS JUST REPLACED JAPAN AS CHINA'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER. AT LEAST 60 PER CENT OF THE EXTERNAL INVESTMENT IN CHINA COMES FROM HONG KONG. A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF CHINA'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE, PERHAPS AS MUCH AS ONE THIRD, 19 EARNED IN AND THROUGH HONG KONG," MR DORWARD ACKNOWLEDGED.

HE ADDED THAT HONG KONG'S RNTREPOT TRADE NOW STANDS ᎪᎢ US$15 BILLION PER YEAR AND SINCE 1978 HONG KONG'S RE-EXPORTS TO CHINA HAVE GROWN AT AN AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE JUST SHORT OF 100 PER CENT.

THERE

TURNING TO RECENT MEDIA REPORTS OF A BRAIN DRAIN AND A CAPITAL OUTFLOW FROM HONG KONG, MR DORWARD POINTED OUT THAT ALTHOUGH MIGHT BE AN OUTFLOW, THERE IS ALSO A BIG INFLOW.

"TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE GO ABROAD FOR THEIR HIGHER EDUCATION. THIS IS SCARCELY A NEW PHENOMENON. OTHERS ARR GOING TO ESTABLISH RESIDENCE ABROAD, OBTAIN A NEW NATIONALITY AND THEN IN MANY CASES TO RETURN WITH, AS IT WERE, THEIR 'INSURANCE POLICY' IN THE SHAPE OF A PASSPORT.

"IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT NET HAS TENDED TO BE BELOW THE AVERAGE SAID.

IMMIGRATION IN THE LAST FBW YEARS FOR EARLIER YEARS, MR DORWARD

ON THE SUBJECT OF FUNDS GOING ABROAD FOR INVESTMENT, MR DORWARD SUGGESTED THAT THIS IS THE NORMAL COURSE OF EVENTS IN A SUCCESSFUL ECONOMY.

/"THE REAL