TNAG-0938-FCO40-1157-Visit-of-John-Nott--Secretary-of-State-for-Trade--to-Hong-Ko-1980 — Page 197

further back, in the years 1975-77 the NICs together accounted for

30 per cent of our trade surplus in manufactures. In 1977 this.

represented a surplus of £14 billion.

4.

This dynamic growth in the NICs domestic markets is continuing

at a time when growth in world trade is faltering. So it is

particularly important for British exporters to seize and exploit

the opportunities arising in NIC markets. This should, I believe,

be a central theme in our trade strategy for the 1980's.

infour

Liberalisation of NIC import regimes

5. I have deliberately started by emphasising the potential for

British exports to the NICs. This is because I prefer to see them

as an opportunity and a challenge to British industry, rather than

as a threat. I am very much aware, in this connection, that South

Korea and other NICs have not run up huge surpluses on current account.

Instead rising export earnings have been spent on rising imports of

goods and services. We warmly welcome this.responsible attitude.

6. But this overall balance conceals a lack of equal trading

opportunities on the two sides. In many of the most advanced and

competitive developing countries, imports of manufactures are largely

confined to products which these countries do not themselves make. In

other areas, notably consumer goods, they cling to highly protective

import regimes. These regimes may have served a purpose in the past.

They do not, in my view, do so any longer. It is, I believe, in the

interests of the NICs themselves for the

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whole range of manufacturing to be opened up to international

competition.