HONG KONG - The value of total retail sales rose by 14.3 percent in Hong Kong in the first quarter over the same period last year, statistics showed on Thursday.

Thomson Cheng Wai-hung, chairman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, forecast a double digit growth for retail sales in the first half year.

In March, the value of total retail sales rose 11.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the Census and Statistics Departments of the government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The sales value of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts increased by 23.1 percent in March. This was followed by the sales value of apparel, commodities in supermarkets and medicines and cosmetics. The sales value of motor vehicles and parts fell by 3.5 percent.

A government spokesman said retail sales sustained a double-digit year-on-year increase in March, buttressed by the upbeat local consumer sentiment under generally favourable economic condition and the continued appreciable increase in visitor arrivals.

Looking ahead, the outlook for retail sales should stay sanguine in the near term, given the positive employment and earnings prospects, and the buoyant inbound tourism, the spokesman said.