HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 15 February 1989
香港立法局 ——一九八九年二月十五日
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In the medium and longer term there are of course land formation programmes to provide land for office development in Central District and other places, but these will provide little relief in the immediate rent cycle. They are however still vital to Hong Kong's economic development, and in fact they are the best direct action that the Government can take to help the economy at any time.
MR. EDWARD HO: Since additional land supply would not ease the office rental situation for some years, will Government inform this Council whether consideration will be given to re-zoning industrial areas in suitable locations for commercial use in order to produce a more immediate effect?
SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, consideration is being given already by the Town Planning Board to one or two areas of this kind.
MR. PETER WONG: Sir, as the Administration appears to be unable to do anything effective about the spiralling office rentals, should we not at least have a measure of the size of the problem? Sir, will the Administration consider the setting up of a "cost of doing business" index, which reflects the rentals, salaries, and services which the business will have to incur?
SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, an answer to that is somewhat beyond my brief and perhaps the Financial Secretary might like to take it on.
HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT: Financial Secretary, can you add to that?
FINANCIAL SECRETARY: Very little, Sir, except I think we do publish a great deal of information and Mr. WONG could probably get sufficient information from the publications that are put out by the Census and Statistics Department. I will have a look into the suggestion made by Mr. WONG, because obviously what is suggested is of interest to businessmen.
MR. ARCULLI: Sir, in the first and last paragraphs of his answer, the Secretary for Lands and Works made a reference to spiralling office rentals as being a