+ Portish?
H. Sohmen
Speech at AmCham, Friday, 13 January 1989
"The Internationalisation of Hong Kong-
To speak about the "internationalisation" of Hong Kong may - to some of you sound like a very odd choice of topic. After all, American expatriates now outnumber British expatriates in the territory; and nobody is quite sure how many tens of thousands of Canadian citizens live in Hong Kong. American, Japanese, Australian, and European investments in Hong Kong are growing annually. Overseas investment in Hong Kong's manufacturing industries alone now counts almost 600 companies with foreign participation having invested more than HK$20 billion and employing over 100,000 persons or more than 10 per cent of Hong Kong's total industrial workforce. And of course the growing presence of PRC interesto is in evidence not only through the new and striking Bank of China building.
Measured by the number of foreign banks operating here, Hong Kong is the third largest financial centre in the world after London and New York. There are well over 400 overseas banks from about 50 different countries active in Hong Kong in some form or another, and many of the world's major securities houses, commodity dealers, and insurance companies are represented.
In trading volume Hong Kong's gold market ranks just after London and Zurich. Hong Kong has nearly 100 fund management companies, and a substantial percentage of the turnover on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is handled by international broking houses. We are located in a time zone about half-way between New York and London and in the centre of the world's fastest growing economic region. Our location on the doorstep of China, our excellent port and advanced transportation and communication facilities make Hong Kong a logical choice for overseas business interests wishing to set up a base in or deal with Southeast Asia. Thirty-seven scheduled airlines now serve Hong Kong. We will undoubtedly have a problem with airpor L capacity in the early 1900's caused by government indecision for too long a time as to where to put a replacement for Kai Tak. On the other hand, Hong Kong is progressing with bilateral air services agreements and of course with other steps to join international bodies (such as the GATT) as part of the implementation of the Joint Declaration.
Many major overseas shipping companies are either established here or operate vessels to Hong Kong. They complement the large group of
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