XN000022-1989-04-29 — Page 6

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SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1989

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WAS THAT AFTER 1997 HONG KONG WOULD BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AGREEMENTS AND PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN APPROPRIATE FIELDS WHICH HE TOLD THE AUDIENCE: "HAS A GREAT DEAL OF PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE FOR HONG KONG AS A MAJOR TRADING TERRITORY AND TO YOU AS INVESTORS OR TRADERS DOING BUSINESS WITH US."

AS A RESULT OF THIS PROCESS, HE POINTED OUT, HONG KONG HAD ALREADY BECOME AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTING PARTY TO THE GATT,

THE CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL, THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AND THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT.

FURTHERMORE, HE ADDED, AGREEMENTS HAD BEEN REACHED ON HONG KONG'S INDEPENDENT PARTICIPATION IN A DOZEN OTHER INTERNATIONAL

ORGANISATIONS.

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MR WIGGHAM SAID THE PROVISIONS IN THE JOINT DECLARATION WOULD ENSHRINED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IN A BASIC LAW, OR MINI-CONSTITUTION, FOR HONG KONG TO BE ENACTED IN EARLY 1990.

LOOKING TO THE YEARS AHEAD OF 1997 AND WHAT HONG KONG WOULD BE LIKE THEN, MR WIGGHAM SAID CONSTITUTIONALLY IT WOULD BE QUITE DIFFERENT.

"IT WILL BE A SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF CHINA INSTEAD OF A DEPENDENT TERRITORY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. BUT NOT A LOT ELSE WILL CHANGE AND IT IS CRITICAL THAT IT DOES NOT," HE STRESSED.

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MR WIGGHAM POINTED OUT THAT HONG KONG WOULD STILL HAVE ITS CAPITALIST FREE MARKET SYSTEM, WITH FULL AUTHORITY OVER ITS OWN FINANCIAL AND MONETARY POLICIES AND ITS OWN FREELY CONVERTIBLE CURRENCY WITH NO EXCHANGE CONTROLS.

"BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY," HE CONTINUED, "IT WOULD HAVE ITS OWN STABLE AND INDEPENDENT LEGAL SYSTEM BUILT AROUND THE BRITISH COMMON LAW То ENSURE A CONTINUATION OF HONG KONG'S RELIABLE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT WHEREBY INVESTORS CAN ENTER INTO CONTRACTS AND OPERATE THE MARKETS WITHOUT FEAR OF ARBITRARY EXPROPRIATION OR POLITICAL MANIPULATION."

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SUMMING UP, HE SAID THE JOINT DECLARATION AND THE CONFIDENCE WHICH IT HAD GENERATED IN HONG KONG'S FUTURE HAD PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR HIGH RATES OF GROWTH AND LONG-TERM INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG'S ECONOMY AND OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND.

MR WIGGHAM'S HOST IN JACKSON WAS THE DOYEN OF MISSISSIPPI'S PUBLIC LIFE, FORMER GOVERNOR, MR WILLIAM WINTER, WHO WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN OPENING MISSISSIPPI TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

MR WIGGHAM SAID HIS VISIT WAS TIMELY AS THE CURRENT GOVERNOR OF MISSISSIPPI, MR GOVERNOR RAY MABUS, LEFT JACKSON YESTERDAY AT THE HEAD OF A HIGH LEVEL MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS MISSION ΤΟ ASIA. SEVERAL LEADING MEMBERS OF THE MISSION WOULD BE VISITING HONG KONG DURING THEIR ASIAN TRIP.

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