ENG-1968 — Page 27

PROGRESS

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delegation took place in June. A delegation from London came in September. In addition a Hong Kong team went to Washington for the annual review of the operation of the five-year bilateral agreement on cotton textiles. In the talks with the two Scandinavian countries, it was possible to reduce the range of products in which Hong Kong agreed to restrain exports. Australia, on the other hand, dropped her request for restraints and it was agreed that the future development of trade would be kept under constant review. As far as the internal administration of trade was concerned, the Government began to contemplate the use of a computer to improve the complex procedures for the allocation of quotas and the issue of licences for textiles under restraint.

While export figures soared and industry expanded, the comple- mentary work of the Labour Department grew. Many pieces of legislation were under preparation and a major bill, the Employment Ordinance 1968, passed into law in September. This provided for the protection of wages and laid down requirements for the duration and termination of workers' contracts. A senior Labour Adviser began work on the promotion of consultative machinery in firms and factories to assist the development of better relations between management and employees. In contrast with many other industrial societies, Hong Kong still did not suffer the loss of many man- hours through industrial disputes. Those differences which did arise were quickly settled, either domestically or through the Govern- ment's conciliation services. Some important wage claims were thrashed out and settled. It was estimated that during the past four years the cost of living for wage-earners had risen 13 per cent while wages increased by 41 per cent. In round terms this indicated that there had been an improvement in the real earnings of workers of seven per cent each year.

The tourist industry too had an exceptional year, with record figures for arrivals, especially by air. 1967, after the summer's alarums and excursions, had ended with only a modest increase of four per cent in the number of pleasure bent visitors, but 1968 soon resumed the high rate of growth of the earlier years. Com- parative monthly figures showed increases of the order of 25 per cent to 30 per cent. October alone saw 66,500 tourists arrive a total more than for the whole year in 1957. The Hong Kong Tourist Association worked not only to promote facilities in Hong Kong for visitors,