XN000022-1993-04-30 — Page 18

FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1993

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BANKING LICENCE GRANTED TO FUKUOKA CITY BANK

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FUKUOKA

A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID TODAY (FRIDAY) THAT THE CITY BANK, LTD HAD BEEN GRANTED A BANKING LICENCE TO CONDUCT

BUSINESS IN HONG KONG.

FUKUOKA CITY BANK IS THE 58TH LARGEST BANK IN JAPAN, AND RANKS 284TH IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF CAPITAL.

PRIOR TO THE GRANTING OF THE BANKING LICENCE, THE BANK HAS BEEN OPERATING A REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN HONG KONG. THE NEW BRANCH WILL ENABLE THE BANK ΤΟ OFFER A WIDER RANGE OF BANKING SERVICES TO ITS CUSTOMERS.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE CONTINUING INTEREST OF FOREIGN BANKS IN ENTERING THE LOCAL MARKET REFLECTED HONG KONG'S CONTINUED IMPORTANCE AS A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE. THE LICENCE FOR FUKUOKA CITY BANK IS THE THIRD BANKING LICENCE GRANTED THIS YEAR.

THERE ARE NOW 167 LICENSED BANKS IN HONG ARE INCORPORATED OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY.

KONG, OF WHICH 135

SHIPPING AND CARGO STATISTICS OF OCEAN-GOING VESSELS FOR FOURTH QUARTER

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IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF LAST YEAR, 7,208 SHIPS WITH A TOTAL CAPACITY OF

35.9 MILLION NET REGISTERED TONS (NRT) ARRIVED AT HONG KONG, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 1.612 (OR 29%) IN NUMBER AND OF 4.9 MILLION NRT (OR 16%) IN CAPACITY OVER THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991.

THIS INFORMATION IS

STATISTICS REPORT, OCTOBER REPORT, OCTOBER

-

CONTAINED IN THE "HONG KONG DECEMBER 1992" PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

SHIPPING (FRIDAY)

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1992, THE TOTAL TONNAGE OF CARGO DISCHARGED IN HONG KONG FROM INCOMING SHIPS WAS 15.6 MILLION TONNES, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 14% OVER THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991.

IN

ANALYSING INCOMING SHIPS BY TYPE, MAJOR INCREASES WERE RECORDED THE NUMBER OF CONTAINER VESSELS (+357), OIL TANKERS (+323), SEMI- CONTAINER VESSELS (+309), ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFFS (+71) AND DRY BULK CARRIERS (+57).

ANALYSING INCOMING SHIPS BY FLAG, MAJOR INCREASES WERE RECORDED THE NUMBER OF SHIPS REGISTERED IN CHINA (+655), PANAMA (+480), TAIWAN (+108) AND LIBERIA (+55).

IN

THE NUMBER OF INCOMING SHIPS WITH A CAPACITY OF LESS THAN 10,000 DEADWEIGHT TONS INCREASED BY 1,180 WHILE THE NUMBER OF THOSE WITH A LARGER CAPACITY INCREASED BY 432.

IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1992, THERE WERE 7,171 OUTGOING SHIPS WITH A TOTAL CAPACITY OF 36.1 MILLION NRT, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 1,565 (OR 28%) IN NUMBER AND OF 4.8 MILLION NRT (OR 15%) IN CAPACITY OVER THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991.

/THE TOTAL

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