XN000022-1994-09-30 — Page 15

13

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1994

MR

MILLER SAID HONG KONG'S SUCCESSFUL

FREE-MARKET,

LOW-TAX,

POLICIES HAD

BEEN

WHICH PLACED

ECONOMIC FREE-TRADE AND NON-INTERVENTIONIST VINDICATED BY THIS YEAR'S WORLD COMPETITIVENESS REPORT HONG KONG AMONG THE TOP FOUR MOST COMPETITIVE ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD.

MIRACLE WOULD

"WITHOUT THESE POLICIES, THE ORIGINAL ECONOMIC NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. WITHOUT THEM THE MORE RECENT RESTRUCTURING OF

ARE POLICIES THE

ALSO HAVE FOUNDERED. ECONOMY WOULD PAINLESS, BUT THEY DO WORK,

H

HE SAID.

THESE

NOT

TRADE MR MILLER TOLD THE GATHERING THAT CHINA'S RE-OPENING OF

BUSINESSES KONG'S

THE SUDDEN HONG AND INVESTMENT HAD PROVIDED OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND PRODUCTION BY INVESTING IN CHINA.

HAVE RETAINED

CAPITAL-INTENSIVE LABOUR-INTENSIVE

CORE

"HONG KONG'S TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS AND THE HIGHER-TECH AND MORE

AND LAND- MOVING HONG PROCESSES IN OPERATIONS ACROSS THE BORDER," HE SAID.

KONG WHILE

ENTREPRENEURS

**NOT SURPRISINGLY GIVEN OUR LOCATION, HONG KONG WERE THE FIRST TO INVEST IN CHINA. SOME 70 PER CENT OF TOTAL REALISED

KONG. DIRECT FOREIGN

INVESTMENT IN CHINA COMES FROM HONG SOUTHERN PROVINCES IT IS HIGHER, AROUND 80 PER CENT, BUT EVEN AS NORTH AS DALIAN AND TIENTSIN, IT IS STILL IN THE MAJORITY.

IN THE FAR

PLANT, FACILITIES DEVELOPMENTS.

AND A

VARIETY

NOT IN INDUSTRIAL "MUCH OF IT, SOME CLAIM THE MAJORITY, IS

+

POWER ROADS, INFRASTRUCTURE:

STATIONS, AND PORT BUT IN

AND RESORTS

OTHER PROPERTY OF HOTELS,

IN "HONG KONG COMPANIES NOW EMPLOY OVER THREE MILLION WORKERS

HONG KONG'S OWN LABOUR GUANGDONG ALONE, SIX TIMES THE NUMBER OF FORCE."

MR MILLER SAID HE WAS DELIGHTED THAT EUROPE'S RESPONSE TO HAD BEEN INCREASINGLY POSITIVE IN RECENT YEARS.

ASIA

ONLY 10 PER ASIAN ECONOMIC Co-

"THE INVESTMENT PICTURE IS STILL RELATIVELY WEAK: CENT OF EUROPEAN UNION (EU) INVESTMENT GOES TO NEWLY INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIES WHEREAS 80 PER CENT IS IN ORGANISATION FOR

HE SAID. OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) ECONOMIES,"

EXPORT THESE HAVE

"HOWEVER, ASIA NOW ACCOUNTS FOR 20 PER CENT OF EUROPE'S SALES,

TWO PER CENT MORE THAN THE U.S. IN VALUE TERMS. SHOT UP FROM 15 BILLION ECU IN 1980 TO 93 BILLION LAST YEAR.

"EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE ARE ACTIVE ALL OVER ASIA AND THE HONG KONG EU HAS OPENED SIX OFFICES IN THE REGION INCLUDING ONE IN WHICH WAS OPENED LAST YEAR. THE EU HAS ALSO PUBLISHED A POLICY SETTING OUT ITS NEW STRATEGY FOR ASIA.

"A NUMBER OF PROMINENT BELGIAN COMPANIES ARE ACTIVE

BANKING, BUSINESS,

CONSTRUCTION

AND

PAPER

IN HONG AND

COMMUNICATIONS,

TRADE ATTACHES,

KONG IN BELGIAN BUSINESSMEN ARE WELL SERVED BY TWO BELGIAN BERNARD DE GUCHTENEERE AND GUY BERTRAND."

TURNING TO THE GLOBAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT, MR MILLER SAID MATERIALISED AND OF THE FEARS PREVALENT 25 YEARS AGO HAD NOT EUROPE HAD NOT BEEN BOUGHT OUT BY AMERICAN MULTINATIONALS AS SOME FEARED.

MANY

THAT

HAD

/"NEARLY A