ENG-1978 — Page 48

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

The Administration Division is directly responsible to the Director of Trade Industry and Customs and services both the Departments of Trade and of Industry and Customs. It deals with personnel, financial and general management of the department as well as the administrative liaison with overseas offices.

The work of the Customs and Excise Service is described in detail in Public Order, Chapter 10.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a statutory body established in 1966, is responsible for promoting and developing Hong Kong's international trade. The chairman of the council is appointed by the Governor and council members include representatives of major industrial and commercial organisations, two senior govern- ment officials and four nominated members. The council is financed by an annual grant from public funds.

Besides its headquarters in Hong Kong, the council maintains overseas offices in 17 key cities - London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Paris, Stockholm, Zurich, Vienna, Milan, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Tokyo and Sydney.

The staff carried out an extensive trade promotion programme in 1978, organising around 40 major international projects. These included a VIP trade mission to Central and South America visiting Mexico, Panama and Venezuela. The mission culminated in a large week-long product display held in Caracas. The staff also participated in the organisation of the government-sponsored economic mission to Japan in Novem- ber, which included the Governor and the chairman and executive director_among its members.

Other promotional projects mounted during the year included Hong Kong's participation in the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, Cologne International House- ware Fair, Cologne International Hardware Fair, Cairo International Trade Fair, Birmingham International Spring Fair, American Toy Fair, British Toy and Hobby Fair, Frankfurt Spring Fair, Spoga Fair, New York Jewellery Fair, Chicago Consumer Electronics Show and the New York Premium Show.

The Trade Development Council organised business group visits to the Middle East on four occasions. Groups also toured Western and Eastern European countries and several African countries as well as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Inward missions were also arranged for two groups of business- men, one from Middle Eastern countries and the other from Britain.

On the local scene the council organised the annual Ready-to-Wear Festival in January and the Toy and Gift Fair in October.

The Trade Development Council produces four regular publications mainly for circulation overseas. They are the monthly Hong Kong Enterprise, the half-yearly Hong Kong Apparel, the annual Hong Kong Toys and the two-monthly news magazine, Hong Kong Trader. Two documentary films to promote Hong Kong's trade were produced during the year. The first film was designed to promote buyer attendance at the 1979 Hong Kong Ready-to-Wear Festival, while the second one was made to promote Hong Kong as a business and manufacturing centre.