HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 14 March 1984
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Aney General in his discerning, personal view of the Hong Kong
tution used as the introduction to the publication 'Hong Kong 1983'.
Others may have different views, but at least to the satisfaction of my own conscience I believe this Chamber is the proper forum in which to reflect the views of our community as we understand them. The support, or otherwise, which our public utterances receive will indicate, as usual, how close we are to the correct assessment of public feeling. The public will soon let us know if we have got it wrong.
Approximately 97% of our community is Chinese, and thus by definition only 3% represents other ethnic groups. It would be presumptuous of me to claim any personal, in-depth knowledge of the feelings of the majority group, although I believe I know what they are, and in any case my other Unofficial Colleagues are better qualified to have this knowledge than I am. Nor for that matter would I claim to know more than anybody else about the natural concerns of the minority, who although small in percentage terms still, I would remind you, number over 150 000 people.
If I can claim to reflect any views at all I do so not on behalf of any one ethnic group, but rather for the business sector both indigenous and foreign.
In general terms foreign investors still have confidence that China and the United Kingdom will reach an accord that ensures the future prosperity of Hong Kong. This is partly due, perhaps, to the fact that the perspective from afar is sometimes different from one close at hand-although it should be noted that the increase in direct foreign investment in Hong Kong's manufacturing industries, according to the Department of Industry, slowed to 3.6% in 1983 compared to 7.7% in 1982. However, foreign investment in Hong Kong, important as it may be, accounts for only a small proportion of the total picture. In our maufacturing sector it probably accounts for about one tenth of the whole-a figure which is supported by investment statistics and industrial survey figures, which show that foreign owned factories, for example, employed about 96 000 workers at the end of 1983 or about 11.1% of Hong Kong's labour force in the manufacturing sector. However, it is not only the confidence of foreign investors which is crucial to the economy's capacity for future growth and prosperity, although it is an important factor, but rather it is the confidence of our own local entrepreneurs which is so vital. It would be short sighted indeed not to pay attention to the impact of the 1997 issue on investment generally, and on our own indigenous investors in particular.
The signals in this context have been confused lately both by cyclical and speculative factors. In many industries the pay back period on investment in machinery and equipment is still as short as three to five years, and, during a period of export boom, short-run profit prospects naturally outweigh the more distant 1997 issue in the minds of local entrepreneurs. Nevertheless the overall real growth rate of private sector investment in plant, machinery and equipment at only 0.8% in 1983 is an indicator on which to ponder with concern.