TNAG-2622-FCO40-3813-Visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-an-1992 — Page 16

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MY 3RD IPT: VISIT BY MR.GOODLAD: BRIEFING:

BALL-POINTS ON HK/VIETNAM ECONOMIC RELATIONS.

TRADE

IN 1991, THE VALUE OF TRADE BETWEEN HONG KONG AND VIETNAM AMOUNTED TO HK DOLLARS 4,305 MILLION, ACCOUNTING FOR 0.3 PERCENT OF HONG KONG'S TOTAL EXTERNAL TRADE.

IN 1991, TOTAL TRADE WITH VIETNAM INCREASED BY 85 PERCENT IN

VALUE TERMS OVER 1990.

VIETNAM IS HONG KONG'S 31ST LARGEST TRADING PARTNER.

VIETNAM IS THE 49TH AND 28TH LARGEST MARKET FOR HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS RESPECTIVELY. VIETNAM RANKS THE

28TH AS A SOURCE OF IMPORTS.

HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO VIETNAM GREW AT AN AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE OF 49.3 PERCENT IN VALUE TERMS IN THE PERIOD 1986- 1991. THE GROWTH RATE IN 1991 WAS 83.6 PERCENT. PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES EXPORTED TO VIETNAM INCLUDE TEXTILE YARN, FABRICS, MADE-UP ARTICLES AND RELATED PRODUCTS, METAL CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE AND TRANSPORT AND MANUFACTURERS OF BASE METAL.

RE-EXPORTS TO VIETNAM GREW AT AN AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE OF 44.7 PERCENT IN VALUE TERMS IN THE PERIOD 1986-1001. THE CORRESPONDING GROWTH RATE IN 1991 WAS 188.0 PERCENT. PRINCIPAL RE-EXPORTS ARE POLYMERISATION AND COPOLYMERIZATION PRODUCTS, TEXTILE YARN, FABRICS AND RELATED PRODUCTS, AND OTHER MAN-MADE FIBRES SUITABLE

FOR SPINNING.

IN 1991, HONG KONG RECORDED A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS OF HK DOLLARS 1,620.7 MN WITH VIETNAM, WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 120.8 PERCENT OF THE VALUE OF HONG KONG'S IMPORTS FROM VIETNAM.

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