TNAG-1136-FCO40-1416-Address-by-Sir-Edward-Youde--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-the-L-1982 — Page 40

(a) Urban Council

•

10.

The Urban Council too id moving into 2 new phase. Next March will see the completion of the reforms introduced by the White Paper on District Administration when the new Urban Council elections are held. The electorate next March will be more than twenty times the size of lost year's electorate and for the first time Urban Council members will be elected on constituency basis. The Council will be increased in size from the present 24 membero to 30% fifteen appointed and fifteen elected members. All Urban Councillors will Bit on District Boards, elected members sitting. on Sho Boards for those Districts which include their constituencies. Relations

between the Urban Council and District Boards are already close, but with the advent of constituency based elected members I am sure that cooperation will become even closer.

(3)

Economic and Financial Situation

(a) The Economy in 1992

11.

me

MOD

turn to. the state of

The

Let

our economy. world is going through the worst receopion since the 1930s and it would be unrealistic

unrealistic to expect our economy, which is so highly externally oriented, to romain immunė. We now expect Hong Kong's gross domestic product to grow by only 4t in 1982. The main cause of this expected fall in our growth rate is that domestic exports in the first half of this year were in real terma 3 lear than in the first half of last year. Although aome recovery is expected in the second half of the

the year, domestic exports seem likely to be down by 28 for the year ap a whole. In terms of experience in recent years such an outcome is disappointing.

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/12. Nevertheless

: