development of genuine hi-tech industries in the order of such undertaken by the States, Japan, Western Europe, or
or even South
Korea and Taiwan demands conditions that is difficult for Hong Kong to provide.
The massive capital commitment with high risk and long pay back period that come with hi-tech ventures do not suit Hong Kong industrialists' craving for quick returns and profits. Besides, the scale of operation of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry is too small to take on such ambitious projects. average size of a Hong Kong factory is 17 people; it is impossible to ask an average firm to take up research and development in any field.
The
Thus the strategy that should be considered is the utilization of existing advanced technologies instead of concentrating ourselves in and allocating our resources to the task of searching for new untried innovations. Technology transfer will enable local industries to apply the latest technologies to their needs and improve their value-added
performance.
The value-added performance of Hong Kong industry is a
Assembly
major area in which structural change is warranted. type manufacturing still dominates our industry, but the value added content for our manufacturing industry only amounts to 28% of the final value. This compares embarrassingly with that
The experienced by other newly industrialized nations. value-added performance of South Korean products, for instance, reaches 80% of the final value. We can no longer take advantage of low-wage labour in the assembly mode of industry to be our competitive edge. We must replace our labour intensive industries with technology intensive industries to enhance the value-added performance of our economy.
One way of improving our well established, traditional industry is for the Government to introduce a field force