light
plastics, metalware, rubber, paper and machinery industries. They employ over 130,000 workers-15 per cent of Hong Kong's manufactur- ing workforce. Most live in nearby public housing estates, which have a population of about 650,000.
Tsuen Wan New Town is about 15 kilometres from Kowloon. The township includes the adjacent areas of Kwai Chung-with its modern container terminal and Tsing Yi Island, connected to the mainland by a road bridge.
There are about 6,000 factories in the area producing a wide range of consumer goods and other light industrial products. Most of the 635,000 residents live in public housing. Several more housing estates are being built, which will bring the population to more than a million by 1993, providing an expanding supply of labour.
Tsing Yi Island accommodates mostly medium to heavy industries. Those already there make cement, sea freight containers, corrugated paper, marine outboard engines, polystyrene, and boats. Ship repairing is also important, and a number of large dockyards has recently been built.
Tuen Mun New Town is about 32 kilometres from Kowloon. A new highway between Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun reduces travel time between the two towns to only 25 minutes.
When completed, Tuen Mun will accommodate some 600,000 people, and provide 158 hectares of industrial sites. Some of these are for heavier and land-intensive industries, providing a more balanced and integrated economic structure and better pro- spects for skilled workers. Amongst those already established are a zipper factory, a large toy factory, a dairy and a heat-transfer printing paper plant. Another project is a tripartite joint-venture between USA, China and Hong Kong interests to build a HK$1 billion (US$200 million) cement plant. When completed it will supply cement not only to Hong Kong, but also to China.
Sha Tin is 14 kilometres from Kowloon, and is on the Kowloon-Canton Railway.
When fully developed Sha Tin will accommodate some 700,000 people and provide 60 hectares of light industrial sites in three main districts. The first of these districts has a big oil storage depot built to facilitate China's supply of oil to Hong Kong.
Aberdeen and adjacent Wong Chuk Hang together form a developing industrial town in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, about ten kilometres from the main business and banking area in the Central District. The town is served by two major trunk roads. A 1.8-kilometre tunnel linking the town with the northern part of the Island will soon be completed.
Over 800 factories, with about 26,000 workers, are engaged mainly in the plastics, textiles and electronics industries. The population is about 200,000-the majority living in nearby public housing estates.
Other Areas
Other well-established but smaller industrial districts include Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island; and Cheung Sha Wan and San Po Kong in Kowloon.
CONST CO.L
Left: factories in operation in the Tai Po Industrial Estate; right: sites at the Yuen Long Industrial Estate are already available.
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