XN000022-1988-10-12 — Page 17

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1988

A

HEALTHY

AND GROWING SIR DAVID DESCRIBED ESSENTIAL FOUNDATION FOR ALL EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE FOR HONG KONG PEOPLE.

AS THE

ECONOMY QUALITY OF LIFE

AFTER VERY RAPID ADVANCES IN THE PAST TWO WAS IT WAS CONSOLIDATING THIS YEAR AND OVERALL DOMESTIC PRODUCT WOULD INCREASE BY ABOUT SIX PER CENT IN REAL TERMS A SLOWER RATE OF GROWTH BUT ONE THAT WORLD STANDARDS.

YEARS, THE ECONOMY EXPECTED THE

WAS STILL

REMARKABLY

GROSS

HIGH BY

"IT WOULD GIVE US AN AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF 10 PER IN REAL TERMS OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD.

CENT

CENT

WAS ΤΟ INCREASE

OF GROWTH

SIX PER CONTINUED RE-EXPORTS THIS YEAR BY ABOUT 35 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS.

——

A SLOWER BUT STILL SIGNIFICANT EXPECTED IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS, RAPIDLY

AND

——

IS

IN OUR RE-EXPORT TRADE "THESE CONTINUING HIGH INCREASES

SHOW THAT HONG KONG OVER 250 PER CENT IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS

CHINA AND RESUMING ITS HISTORICAL ROLE AS AN ENTREPOT FOR TRADE WITH THE REST OF EAST ASIA,' HE SAID.

I

WITH

THE ECONOMY

OPERATING

THAT SAID SIR DAVID CAPACITY, THE TWO MAIN DOMESTIC WORRIES WERE INFLATION AND A OF LABOUR.

RUNNING

CLOSE

SHORTAGE

TO

OVER

OF

NOW

AT IS

SLIGHTLY "CONSUMER PRICE INFLATION

BUT AS THE PRESSURE "THIS IS TOO HIGH. SEVEN PER CENT, HE SAID. DEMAND BEGINS TO SLACKEN, INFLATIONARY PRESSURE SHOULD ALSO GRADUALLY DECREASE.

*

DECADES BY MAINTAINING

ENCOURAGING BY

THE

HONG KONG HAD PROSPERED OVER THE PAST

AND COMPETITION, AN OPEN ECONOMY, BY WELCOMING FREE FLOW OF GOODS, CAPITAL AND TECHNOLOGY, SIR DAVID EMPHASISED.

IN ITS PHYSICAL CREATE THE CONDITIONS

NOW IT WAS INVESTING HEAVILY AND HUMAN RESOURCES SO AS TO GROWTH.

FOR

INFRASTRUCTURE CONTINUING

DEPENDENT NOT "NEVERTHELESS, WE HAVE TO RECOGNISE THAT WE ARE

MAJOR OF OUR PERFORMANCE JUST ON OURSELVES BUT ON THE ECONOMIC

WELL AS ON OVERSEAS MARKETS AND ON OUR CONTINUED ACCESS TO THEM, AS GLOBAL EXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTS," HE SAID.

WE MUST

INCREASE

AND

FIGHT

CAPACITY THE "IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES COMPETITIVENESS OF OUR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES AND CONTINUE TO FOR A MORE OPEN WORLD TRADING SYSTEM."

IS TURNING TO "THE CHINA DIMENSION". THE GOVERNOR SAID: "CHINA

THE LARGEST MARKET FOR OUR THE SECOND LARGEST

DOMESTIC EXPORTS;

SOURCE SUPPLIER AND MARKET FOR OUR RE-EXPORTS; AND THE SECOND LARGEST OF OUR RETAINED IMPORTS.

/"HONG KONG