TNAG-1821-FCO40-2584-Emigration-from-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 198

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also has good and improving transport links with the Chinese

hinterland - by road, rail, air, sea and river. And Hong

Kong's traditional role as an entrepot for Chinese trade, which

was disrupted by the international embargo at the time of the

Korean War, is now stronger than ever. Seventy-eight percent

of Hong Kong's large re-export business comes from, or is

destined for, China. This amounted to trade both ways worth

HK$116 billion (US$15 billion) in the year up to the end of

June 1987. Some 2,800 Chinese vessels annually use the port of

Hong Kong, nearly ten times the number of ten years ago.

International confidence in Hong Kong, matching the

international interest in Hong Kong, has been high since the

Joint Declaration. But what of those who have the greatest

interest of all: the people of Hong Kong? Are they all

leaving and taking their money with them, as some of the

international press have alleged? Hardly. There is an

outflow, not a flight, of capital from Hong Kong. This is

normal in any strong economy: Japan is a good example of a

similar trend writ large. The important point is that there is

no shortage of investment in the territory, whether in plant

and machinery (1984-86 was the best three year period for

growth in this area of investment in Hong Kong's history) or

for multi-billion dollar construction projects. Hong Kong

businessmen may be buying into companies overseas, such as

Husky Oil in Canada or Marine Midland Bank in the United

States; but they are also making investments in Hong Kong,

many of which will not pay for themselves until well into the