C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL #
XCC(77)78
Copy No Page 2 of 5
of 80
of a higher quality are likely to be made. This is borne out by the applications most recently received, a higher proportion of which has been successful. The overall average lot size required is about 0.4 hectares (one acre), but a small number of successful applicants requiring larger lots could quickly absorb the formed land becoming available. The Corporation is therefore of the view that the prime requirement at this juncture is to form land as fast as possible.
The Case for a Second Industrial Estate
5
!
The immediate availability of serviced land is an essential element of industrial investment promotion and will in itself be an attraction to potential investors. The lead time necessary to undertake resumption and clearance, carry out preliminary investigations, prepare designs, let contracts and complete the formation of the first sites at a second industrial estate could take up to 2 years and it is likely to be another 18 months before the first factory could become operative. It has always been the intention to proceed with a second industrial estate, and the proposals for this have been under consideration for some time. But it was decided that priority should be given to the establishment of the Tai Po Industrial Estate. Work on this is now well in hand and the Corporation considers that authority for the construction of a second estate must be given in the near future if there is not to be an unduly long lag between the completion of Tai Po and the first land becoming available at a second estate.
6
It cannot yet be definitely demonstrated that there is sufficient demand for sites on an industrial estate from the sort of applicant for whom industrial estates are intended and whose application would be likely to be successful. However, such risk as is involved, the Corporation considers is worth taking. First, because the indications from the applications for Tai Po are that the demand probably does exist; secondly, because it is essential to the administration of Hong Kong's industrial estates that sites are available to successful applicants with a minimum of delay. Thirdly, there is in any case a shortage of formed industrial land in Hong Kong and if the Corporation's forecast of demand for industrial estate sites is over-optimistic, the land can be returned to the Government which will have no difficulty disposing of it at full market value for general industrial use.
The Case for Yuen Long
7
The number of places suitable for the development of an industrial estate in Hong Kong is limited. The area must be sufficiently close to a centre of population to ensure an adequate supply of labour. It must have good road access and the land must be capable of being formed at a reasonable price. The area at Yuen Long marked on the
CONFIDENTIAL
機密