ENG-1973 — Page 52

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

The Preventive Service and dutiable commodities division comprises the Hong Kong Preventive Service, which is described more fully in Chapter 10, and an office which is responsible for the calculation and collection of duty.

Trade Development Council

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council, established by statute in 1966, is charged with the responsibility of promoting, assisting and developing Hong Kong's overseas trade, with particular preference to exports. The council's chairman is appointed by the Governor. Its members comprise representatives of principal com- mercial and industrial organisations, two senior government officials and four nomi- nated members. The work of the council's executive is financed by subvention from the general revenue.

Offices overseas which provide extensive trade services for Hong Kong and foreign businessmen remain at 15. After the Brussels office was merged with the Amsterdam office, a new office was opened in Zurich. The council also maintains offices in London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Tokyo and Sydney.

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The council further stepped up its promotional activities abroad in 1973 covering more than 50 separate projects. It organised participation in a large number of general and specialised trade fairs such as the Frankfurt General Fair, Nuremberg Interna- tional Toy Fair, Cologne Housewares Fair, Pret-a-Porter Fashion Fair, Comis Eurotricot Knitwear Fair, Leipzig International Trade Fair and New York Interna- tional Toy and Jewellery Fair. Pilot projects were carried out at a number of other trade fairs including the Brno Trade Fair, Zagreb International Fair, Western Elec- tronic Show, Utrecht Autumn Fair, Poznan Consumer Goods Fair and Spoga Sporting Goods Fair. In addition, business groups comprising Hong Kong manu- facturers, exporters and importers visited Japan, Scandinavia, Africa, the United States, Canada and East Europe. Inward missions came from Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

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In March the council organised the sixth annual Hong Kong Ready-to-Wear Festival, which attracted more than 1,000 international buyers. It also took part in the Chinese Manufacturers' Association's annual exhibition of Hong Kong products.

The overseas circulation of the council's trade publications continued to increase during the year. The monthly magazine, 'Hong Kong Enterprise', distributed to 110 countries, now enjoys a circulation of 55,000. The 'Apparel' magazine, published twice a year, and the annual "Toys' magazine are circulated to department store chains, mail order houses and importers all over the world. Other publications dis- tributed overseas include 'Hong Kong for the Businessman' and 'Industrial Invest- ment Hong Kong', which is produced in collaboration with the Commerce and Industry Department. During the year, the council revised its promotion film, 'Hand- shakes Like This', for briefing businessmen overseas.