TNAG-2756-FCO40-3973-Hong-Kong-Business-Works-Conference--London-address-by-John-1993 — Page 8

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There are colossal plans in other sectors as well-ports, insports, railways

Manu during of all works Open up.

i

- as China strives to

The big projects in China attract the headlines, and I am delighted that British

firms have had some important successes such as GEC in the power

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generation sector. They are highly competitive in other sectors as well, and

Richard Needham has been in China again recently pursuing these

opportunities. But I hope your conference will also look at the potential

consumer market in China, as all this economic activity puts money into

people's pockets. Any manufacturer of a good consumer product, finding sales

a bit slow in this part of the globe, ought to be thinking about China.

And thinking about China means thinking about Hong Kong. That is where the

expertise in the China market is to be found: in trading, in joint ventures, in

financial services. I am glad to see that British companies are now giving a

higher priority to the region. The trade figures show the trend: in the first 8

months of this year British exports to Hong Kong rose 31 per cent. To China,

they rose an astonishing 90 per cent, although from a lower base.

Despite encouraging figures like these, I am not convinced that people in

Britain, or more widely in the European Community, have yet fully grasped the

significance for us of Asia and the Pacific.n Hong Kong alone, there is a vast- amount of business to be done, with cinnounced project's totalling some ₤21 billion, + Sophisticated consumer market, and an increasing number of people coming chowan from Chine with big money to spend.

In the generation ahead, we must give Asia a much higher priority. We must

pay attention to what is happening in Asia, politically and economically. If we

are to restore the share of world markets which the European Community has

lost over the past decade, we must look to our ability to compete in Asia and

with Asia. As I keep reminding my fellow leaders in the European

Community, it is no good burdening our industry with excessive social costs or

fettering it with restrictions on the labour market if the end result is to put

ourselves out of business.

Hong Kong is not the only way into chine, but it is a well-tried, well- Signposted une, with plenty of withing quicles. ibusiness people in Mong Kang have tee a vital Moving force behind the commercial development of Ch

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That is why, on my visit to Tokyo in September, I announced that the

Government was determined to give Asia a new place in our national priorities.

We have a wealth of traditional connections with Asian countries. But we must

now build up our modern connections.

This means expanding Britain's political dialogue with Asian governments.

It means seeking closer co-operation with Asian countries in tackling regional

and global problems.

It means strengthening our commercial presence. Britain is already the largest

European investor in the Asia/Pacific region; the largest European exporter of

invisibles; and the second largest European exporter of goods. So we have a

base. But we must keep building on it. We cannot afford to stand still.

Britain's long term commitment to Hong Kong is part of that strategy. Our

interest does not end in 1997. From then, of course, Britain will no longer be

the sovereign power. But our ties will continue.

Ties of business, ties of friendship, ties of blood which go deep. That is why

we are spending £25 million on a new British Consulate General. It will be a

large and well-staffed Post, with a clear mandate to support British business

after 1997.

So, if you want to be in Asia, you need to be in Hong Kong.

But Hong Kong's location is far from being its only strength. In many ways, the remarkable people of Hong Kong have made their own luck through their drive, enterprise and adaptability. It is no coincidence that the Hong Kong

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Government spends more on education and training each year than on any other

activity.

The best workforce needs a Government which sets the right economic policies.

The Hong Kong Government has done that for decades. Hong Kong is the best

advertisement I know for the benefits of the free market and an open trading

system. It enjoys another advantage too: a system of values founded on the

rule of law.

These are precious assets. They are at the core of what has made Hong Kong special and successful over the years. If that success is to continue, if Hong Kong is to remain attractive to businessmen and investors, it is essential that

these assets are preserved.

That has been the aim of our policy for many years. The Joint Declaration,

which Britain and China signed in 1984, sets out in careful detail all the rights

and freedoms which go to make up Hong Kong's way of life, and provides that

this way of life will remain unchanged for at least 50 years beyond 1997.

The British Government attaches the highest importance to the full

implementation of the Joint Declaration. One of its key provisions is that, by 1997, Hong Kong's legislature shall be constituted by elections. China's Basic

Law for Hong Kong after 1997 sets out in more detail that the gradual development of democracy which has been under way for a decade will

continue beyond 1997.

The talks we are holding with China are not, therefore, an argument about

democracy. That principle is agreed. The argument is about whether the final

round of elections to be held under British sovereignty in 1994 and 1995 will be

fair, open and acceptable to the people of Hong Kong.