TNAG-2047-FCO40-2917-Visits-by-staff-of-the-Department-of-Trade-and-Industry-to-H-1990 — Page 80

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SPEECH TO BULLDOGS/BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HONG KONG :

TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER

Delighted that my first major visit overseas as Minister for Trade

should be to Hong Kong. Like everyone else visiting the market,

one cannot help but be impressed by the vibrancy and sheer dynamism

which pervades all business and social life. Visits I have made in

the last few days have reinforced my impression of the hectic pace

at which business is conducted here.

Very glad to have the opportunity of addressing the British

Bulldogs and the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong today on

the theme of the "Future Development of UK/Hong Kong Trade Up to

and Beyond 1997".

Hong Kong's spectacular development and commercial success in the

post-war period, making it one of the world's top traders, has been

built on the basis of free trade, an open market economy and an

enterprising and adaptable workforce. Superb facilities, an

absence of trade and tariff barriers, and the need to import so

much in the way of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, have

made Hong Kong an attractive, though highly competitive, market for

UK exporters. Hong Kong is very important to the UK not only as a

market in its own right, but also as a gateway into the Southern

the provinces of China, and as a major re-export centre for[markets of

the the Pacific Rim. It will continue to be so for the foreseeable

future.

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