XN000022-1994-03-11 — Page 9

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1994

BEEN IN CLOSE

MR IP ADDED THAT THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE HAD LIAISON WITH THE MARKET OPERATORS ON RETIREMENT SCHEMES WITH A VIEW TO

APPLICATIONS PREPARING ASSISTING THEM AND THEIR REGISTRATION OF SCHEMES.

CLIENTS IN

FOR

IT IS EXPECTED THAT THERE WILL BE ABOUT 25,000 SCHEMES APPLYING FOR REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION WITHIN THE TWO-YEAR TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.

COPIES OF THE REPORT IN ENGLISH, AT $20 EACH, ARE NOW ON SALE PLACE, CENTRAL, CENTRE AT CONNAUGHT AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS HONG KONG. THE CHINESE VERSION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER IN THE YEAR.

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STATISTICS ON EXTERNAL TRADE FOR JANUARY

* * * * *

BY

THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (FRIDAY) RELEASED DETAILED STATISTICS ON EXTERNAL TRADE WITH BREAKDOWN COUNTRY/TERRITORY AND COMMODITY FOR JANUARY 1994.

THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS IN JANUARY 1994, AT $66,771 MILLION, SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 36% OVER JANUARY 1993, WHEREAS THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AT $15,340MILLION INCREASED BY 5.4%.

OVER THE SAME PERIOD, INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS TO ALL MAJOR DESTINATIONS: CHINA (+59%), THE UNITED KINGDOM (+40%), SINGAPORE (+38%), THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA (+37%), JAPAN (+37%), THE UNITED STATES (+34%), GERMANY (+25%), THE NETHERLANDS FRANCE (+14%) AND TAIWAN (+3.0%).

(+23%),

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE OF HONG KONG'S RE-EXPORTS TO MAJOR DESTINATIONS ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

THE

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AS THE EXTERNAL TRADE FIGURES OF A SINGLE MONTH AT THE

LUNAR OF EACH YEAR TEND TO BE VOLATILE BECAUSE OF THE BEGINNING

NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS (WHICH OCCURRED IN LATE JANUARY LAST YEAR, BUT IN MID- A FEBRUARY THIS YEAR), IT IS MORE MEANINGFUL TO MAKE COMPARISONS OVER LONGER PERIOD.

COMPARING THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1994 WITH THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1993, INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE VALUE OF OF KOREA RE-EXPORTS TO MOST OF THE MAJOR DESTINATIONS: THE REPUBLIC (+28%), JAPAN (+28%), CHINA (+27%), THE UNITED STATES (+26%), THE UNITED KINGDOM (+25%), GERMANY (+25%), SINGAPORE (+21%), FRANCE (+12%) AND THE NETHERLANDS (+12%).

HOWEVER, THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS TO TAIWAN DECREASED BY 12%.

TABLE 2 SHOWS THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS OF THE MAJOR COMMODITY DIVISIONS.

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/COMPARING THE