ENG-1980 — Page 49

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

policyholders. Trading and financial records are kept of some 40,000 overseas buyers, and this confidential reference library is the most comprehensive of its type in Hong Kong.

Bankers who finance exports from Hong Kong also benefit from the corporation's services. Their exporting clients who hold one of the ECIC's policies can authorise the cor- poration to pay any claims to their financing bank. In addition, to assist in the funding of manufacturers who export capital or semi-capital goods on medium to long-term credit, the corporation is prepared to provide the financing bank with gilt-edged security in the form of its unconditional guarantee. This involves the full payment by the ECIC of any overdue instalments and interest, irrespective of the cause of delay.

As a member of the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers (the Berne Union) the corporation has access to up-to-date and confidential assessments of the inter- national economic scene, and the technology used by other nations in support of their export industries.

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The corporation's paid up capital of $20 million was provided by the government, which also guarantees the corporation's liabilities created by its insurance and guarantees opera- tions. The statutory limit of this guarantee was raised from $2,000 million to $2,500 million in May, 1980. The corporation does not receive any subvention and operates on a break- even basis, taking one year's result with another. In its daily business activities, the corpora- tion resembles private enterprise and markets its services in a commercial manner.

The ECIC benefits from the guidance and advice provided by the 12 members of its advisory board. As a member in its own right of the leading trade and industrial associations in Hong Kong, the corporation remained in close contact during the year with the tough realities of the international marketplace.

During the 1979–80 financial year, nearly $3.5 billion-worth of goods and services were insured by the ECIC against non-payment by customers overseas who receive credit terms from their Hong Kong suppliers. The corporation received a premium income of $16 million as a result of insured export shipments. It settled 74 claims and had to provide funds for another 81 cases of difficulties. Many of these problems were caused by political or economic events in African countries. Diversification obviously had its price, and the ECIC found it increasingly difficult in 1980 to achieve any surplus in operations.

At the beginning of the year, the ECIC embarked upon developing a computer-based administration. It looks after the interests of more than 1,100 exporters, insuring some 150,000 shipments of Hong Kong products a year to over 40,000 international clients.

Hong Kong Productivity Council and Centre

The Hong Kong Productivity Council, a statutory organisation established in 1967, is responsible for promoting the increased productivity of industry in Hong Kong. The council comprises a chairman and 20 members, all appointed by the Governor, representing management, labour, academic and professional interests, and government departments closely associated with productivity matters. It is financed by an annual government subvention and by fees earned from its services.

The executive arm of the council is the Hong Kong Productivity Centre which provides technology, industrial consultancy, computers, technical information, economic analyses, technology transfer and other industrial development services. It also conducts a wide range of training programmes in industrial technology, management techniques and electronic data processing.

The centre's facilities include eight classrooms, a low cost automation unit, an industrial chemistry laboratory, a metal finishing laboratory, electronic data processing facilities