ERE
(*7 CONFIDENTIAL
kat dan
financing much of the Shanghai export trade through Hong Kong's relatively free foreign exchange market and, like the immigrant entrepreneurs, was therefore already well-acquainted with the rapidly expanding consumer markets of North America and Western
Europe.
7.
Even now, nearly half the manufacturing work force is engaged in the production of textiles (which account for about a half also of the total value of Hong Kong's domestic exports) And it is still the case that Hong Kong's principal overseas markets are in North America and Western Europe (the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom together taking up about 55%, by value, of Hong Kong's total domestic exports and nearly 60% of its exports of textiles). Nonetheless, Hong Kong's exports are now rather more diversified than even a few years ago, with plastic toys and dolls, transistorised radios, electronic components, household utensils and watches and clocks featuring prominently among its principal manufactures.
Full-employment and Economic Growth
8. By the end of the 1950's, against the background of the rapid growth of consumer demand abroad, Hong Kong's domestic exports had expanded sufficiently rapidly not only to make up for the decline in the re-export trade but also fully to employ the growing work force. This full-employment situation was to be maintained throughout the 1960's (1961-1971), even though the working population increased over the decade by nearly 35% to 1.6 million persons. During this period, with overseas demand continuing to expand rapidly, domestic exports more than trebled (this being in quantity terms) and were equivalent in 1971 to as much as HK$ 17,500 million. The gross domestic product, which for 1971 was estimated at HK$ 21,000 million, increased, on average, over the decade by as much as 9% a year (this being in real terms, that is, after allowing for price increases). With the total population
4
CONFIDENTIAL·
/rising
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.