4
Industry and Trade
THE high growth rates in production and exports achieved by commerce and industry in 1968 were maintained in 1969.
Hong Kong's economy is in great part keyed to export-oriented light industries operating within a free port, free enterprise environ- ment. The industries which have prospered are those whose products have been able to withstand international competition without subsidy or protection, and those which are geared to servicing the manufacture of such products. Preservation of a liberal import regime and reluctance to meet demands for protection of particular industries or to retaliate against other countries' restrictive actions are key elements in the Government's commercial policy. Hong Kong has therefore remained true to the traditions established when it was an entrepôt with no tariffs and few restrictions on import of commercial goods. Widespread skill in merchandising techniques together with highly developed banking, insurance and shipping systems inherited from the historical entrepôt era, blended with manufacturing techniques constantly developing in scope and scale in the post war period, have made this policy successful.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of which Hong Kong is a member by virtue of the United Kingdom's status as a contracting party can be regarded as the cornerstone of Hong Kong's commercial policy. Developments in international com- mercial policy in and through the GATT are therefore of great importance to Hong Kong because of their possible impact on its external trading, which in turn has a direct effect on the shape and magnitude of domestic industry and on employment. The aspira- tions and activities of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) (of which Hong Kong is an associate member), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial
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