appendix 1: trade and foreign investment
For many years Britain has imported more from Hong Kong than she has sold there. In 1974 Britain exported goods worth HK$1,942 million to the Colony and bought from there goods worth HK$2,768 million. In that year the Colony's major sources of imports were: Japan (20.9%); China (17.6%); USA (13.5%); Britain (5.7%). The major markets for
for its exports were: USA (32.4%); Britain (12.1%); West Ger- many (10.7%); and Australia (5.7%).
Hong Kong’s total trade reached HK$64,156 million in 1974, with imports valued at HK$34,120 million; domestic exports HK$22,911; and re exports HK$7,124 million. Domestic exports con- sisted almost entirely of manufactured goods. Textiles and clothing accounted for 50 per cent of the total, and other major export items were electrical machinery and apparatus, toys and dolls,
artificial flowers, watches and clocks, jewellery, and footwear.
The extent of British investment in Hong Kong is impossible to estimate for British capital has been involved there from the beginning of its colonization. All the major trading houses are British in origin, although often regarded now as Hong Kong companies, and they have widely diversified their activities into shipping, airways, insurance, property, travel services, retailing, and numerous forms of manufacturing. Hong Kong Government surveys of overseas invest- ment in manufacturing do not include these companies in their tables. The latest figures show that by far the greatest overseas investor in the Colony's manu- facturing sector is the USA-chiefly in clothing, textiles and electronics-while Thailand has been investing almost as much as Britain in recent years.
OVERSEAS INVESTMENT IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN BY SOURCE (at JUNE 30, 1975)
Source of investment
US
Japan
UK
Thailand
Australia
Singapore
Taiwan
Switzerland
France
The Netherlands
Philippines
West Germany
Others
Total
No. of establishments
Investments
(excl HK interest) ($m)
95
818.9
(49.2%)
68
256.8
(15.4%)
26
138.1
( 8.3%)
5
134.5
( 8.1%)
14
90.1
(5.4%)
8
61.0
(3.7%)
7
31.0
(1.9%)
12
28.2
( 1.7%)
3
23.9
(1.4%)
4
22.7
(1.4%)
4
15.8
( 1.0%)
7
12.0
15
29.9
( 0.7%) (1.8%)
268*
1,662.9
(100%)
*The actual number of establishments is 250. The discrepancy arises because some companies are joint ventures involving more than one overseas interest. Source: Hong Kong Government.
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