XN000022-1990-03-22 — Page 8

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1990

HK COMMISSIONER POINTS TO BIG OPPORTUNITIES

BRITISH BUSINESSMEN

CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY HONG KONG AND THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION, HONG KONG'S COMMISSIONER IN LONDON, MR JOHN YAXLEY, HAS SAID.

AND

SPEAKING TO AN AUDIENCE OF LEADING BUSINESSMEN INDUSTRIALISTS IN ENGLAND'S NORTH EAST, MR YAXLEY SAID THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ECONOMIC GROWTH THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD.

THE

"JAPAN IS AND WILL REMAIN THE DOMINANT ECONOMIC POWER IN REGION FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, BUT HONG KONG HAS A UNIQUE ROLE AS THE HUB OF THE REGION AND PARTICULARLY AS A GATEWAY то CHINA, A COUNTRY CONTAINING ONE QUARTER OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION.

"JAPAN CERTAINLY RECOGNISED THE IMPORTANCE OF HONG KONG BY INVESTING AT LEAST TWICE AS MUCH THERE AS IN THAILAND, SINGAPORE OR INDONESIA," HE SAID.

THE

COMMISSIONER SAID HONG KONG'S IMPRESSIVE ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN RECENT YEARS, COUPLED WITH ITS RE-EMERGENCE AS AN ENTREPOT AND INCREASING TRADE WITH THE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ASIA PACIFIC REGION, LEFT NO DOUBT THAT ITS EXTERNAL TRADE WOULD CONTINUE TO GROW IN THE 1990'S.

HE SAID THE EVENTS IN CHINA LAST YEAR HAD HAD SOME PASSING EFFECT ON HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, BUT THERE WAS NO PANIC AND NOW THE SITUATION WAS BACK TO NORMAL, IF AT A SLOWER GROWTH RATE.

ON ECONOMIC LINKS WITH CHINA, MR YAXLEY SAID HONG KONG AND CHINA WERE NOW EACH OTHER'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER, NOTING THAT LAST YEAR TRADE WAS VALUED AT ABOUT 26 BILLION POUNDS STERLING, COMPARED WITH ONE BILLION POUNDS STERLING IN 1978.

TRADE IN SERVICES HAD ALSO GAINED PROMINENCE IN RECENT YEARS.

"HONG KONG IS BELIEVED TO BE THE MOST

ESTIMATED AT

CHINA'S OVERALL TOURIST RECEIPTS, POUNDS STERLING IN 1988, HE SAID.

+

"WE ARE ALSO THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE OF

IMPORTANT SOURCE OF ABOUT 1.25 BILLION

EXTERNAL INVESTMENT

IN CHINA AND ACCOUNT FOR AROUND 70 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL REALISED DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CHINA.

"TO DATE,

THIS SUM HAS AMOUNTED ΤΟ NEARLY EIGHT BILLION POUNDS STERLING, HE SAID.

MR YAXLEY SAID THAT WHILE HONG KONG'S ECONOMY WAS LINKED TO CHINA, THERE WERE HUGE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN AND INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THAT TWO AND A HALF TIMES MORE THAN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL TUNNEL.

INEXTRICABLY INVESTMENT

WOULD COST

THE COMMISSIONER'S THREE-DAY VISIT TO THE NORTH EAST INCLUDED A RECEPTION FOR CHINESE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND AN ADDRESS TO HIS ALMA MATER, THE UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM.

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