XN000022-1988-03-23 — Page 3

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1988

2

HK'S TRADING PATTERN LIKELY TO CHANGE

零章家掌

THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

FORCE IN RECENT YEARS AND IT

HAS

AS EMERGED

A DYNAMIC

KONG'S

ECONOMIC TRADING

IS LIKELY THAT HONG

PATTERN WILL CHANGE ACCORDINGLY, THE DIRECTOR SZE, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

OF TRADE, MR MICHAEL

OF THE HONG KONG

SPEAKING AT A LUNCHEON MEETING

EXPORTERS' WHICH HAD ASSOCIATION, MR SZE SAID WITH A RATE OF ECONOMIC EXPANSION

WESTERN POWERS, THE ASIA-PACIFIC FAR ECLIPSED THAT OF TRADITIONAL REGION HAD BEEN GAINING AN INCREASING SHARE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

"IT PROBABLY NOW ACCOUNTS FOR TRADE IN VALUE TERMS," HE SAID.

AROUND 20 PER CENT

OF WORLD

MR. SZE SAID GROWTH IN THE REGION YEARS BEEN PARALLELED BY GROWTH IN NEIGHBOURS ALTHOUGH RELIANCE ON THE U.S. EXPORTS STILL REMAINED STRONG.

AS A WHOLE HAD IN RECENT BETWEEN ASIA-PACIFIC TRADE AS A MARKET FOR THE

REGION':

U.g.

"GIVEN THE WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, THE LIKELY SLOWDOWN IN

ENORMOUS ECONOMIC POTENTIAL,

IMPORTS, AND THE ASIA-PACIFIC'S STILL THIS RELIANCE IS LIKELY TO BE CUT BACK.

"ADDED TO THAT ARE PROTECTIONIST PRESSURES. IN THE U.S. AND

THE EXCLUSION AS FROM 1989 OF THE EXPORTS OF

AND TAIWAN

PREFERENCES"

SOUTH KOREA FROM

REGION

THE U.S.

SINGAPORE, HONG KONG,

SYSTEM GENERALISED

OF

AND

MARKETS IN

THE

FOCUS

FAVOUR

OF

OF THAT

HE SAID SOME DIVERSIFICATION IN EXPORT

WAS INEVITABLE ASIA-PACIFIC DIVERSIFICATION WOULD BE JAPAN.

THE

EXPORTS TO SINGAPORE SOARED LAST CENT OVER 1986 WHILE JAPAN'8

MR SZE NOTED THAT THE CHANGE HAD ALREADY BEGUN AND JAPAN FROM HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA AND YEAR TO US$18.83 BILLION, UP 51 PER EXPORTS TO THEM ROSE BY 31 PER CENT.

ECONOMY, HAD TO GO

IN CONCLUSION, MR SZE SAID WITH AN OPEN, FREE-TRADING HONG KONG'S PATTERN OF TRADE WAS BASED ON OPPORTUNITY AND IN SEARCH OF NEW MARKETS AS OLDER ONES CONTRACTED.

"THE IDEAL WOULD BE THAT OTHERS FOLLOW HONG KONG'S EXAMPLE TRADE WITHOUT BARRIERS.

POTENTIAL

AND

"THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION HAS GREAT

FOR FURTHER CANNOT BE BUSTAINED UNLESS GROWTH, BUT IN THE LONG RUN THIS GROWTH

" HE ADDED. ALL TRADING PARTNERS PURSUE A FREE AND OPEN TRADE POLICY,