XN000022-1992-08-17 — Page 10

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1992

HONG KONG'S MAJOR EXPORTS TO FINLAND GREW AT AN ANNUAL AVERAGE RATE OF 11.6 PER CENT BETWEEN 1981 AND 1991, WHILE MAJOR RE-EXPORTS AND IMPORTS GREW AT AN ANNUAL AVERAGE RATE OF 54.1 PER CENT PER CENT RESPECTIVELY DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

AND 32.7

MR YAXLEY SAID TRADE WITH THE MAINLAND HAD QUADRUPLED SINCE 1985, AND LAST YEAR ALONE TRADE WITH CHINA INCREASED 27 PER CENT.

IN 1991, HONG KONG'S TRADE WITH THE REGION INCREASED 23 PER EXCEEDING THE TERRITORY'S TRADE WITH EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA

CENT COMBINED.

"DESPITE PROSPECTS IN EUROPE, BOTH EAST AND WEST, I BELIEVE THAT FOR THE NEXT DECADE AND PROBABLY WELL BEYOND, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE ECONOMIES OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION WILL OFFER THE MOST EXCITING BUSINESS PROSPECTS IN THE WORLD.

"HONG "HONG KONG IS WELL PLACED TO BENEFIT FROM WHAT 'THE RECENTLY CALLED THE MOST RAPID INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION EVER SEEN," HE SAID.

THE

ECONOMIST' WORLD HAS

THE ECONOMIES OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION WERE LIKELY TO ACHIEVE GROWTH RATES DOUBLE THOSE OF EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA OR EVEN JAPAN OVER THE NEXT DECADE, AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS BELIEF THAT HONG KONG HAD LAUNCHED A MASSIVE INVESTMENT PROGRAMME IN THE TERRITORY'S INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING THE NEW AIRPORT.

"HONG KONG'S PARTICIPATION IN THIS RAPID EXPANSION AND, INDEED, THAT OF CHINA'S WOULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED IF WE HAD NOT DECIDED TO PROCEED WITH 10 BILLION POUNDS WORTH OF NEW INVESTMENT IN OUR NEW AIRPORT," HE SAID.

ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE, MR YAXLEY REITERATED THE THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT "WHICH EFFECTIVELY GUARANTEES CURRENT WAY OF LIFE FOR 50 YEARS AFTER 1997".

IMPORTANCE OF HONG KONG'S

"CHINA NEEDS HONG KONG AND HONG KONG NEEDS CHINA ON THE ECONOMIC FRONT, SAID MR YAXLEY, NOTING THAT IN RECENT YEARS CHINA HAD INVESTED HEAVILY IN HONG KONG, IN THE SAME WAY AS HONG KONG HAD INVESTED IN CHINA.

TOMORROW (TUESDAY), MR YAXLEY WILL CALL ON FINLAND'S DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS, MR PEKKA LINTU, AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS AT THE MINISTRY FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR JAAKKO LAAFOVA.

FOR

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