to the ANIES, it is anticipated that in future, they will develop into major exporters of
services, either in service oriented businesses or in non-service oriented businesses,
exporting to countries within and outside the region. Among the four economies, Hong
Kong and Singapore would take the lead.
Take the example of hotel businesses. Since hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore
have built up a reputation of quality services, their expertise in this area is highly
marketable. Hotel management, consultancy and training are the three areas with high
marketing potential. The demand for these services mainly comes from less developed
countries where tourism and business activities are flourishing. So far, these services are
exported to places such as the ASEAN, China and the Middle East. On the part of the
exporting country, apart from benefitting the hotel management sector, the export of
hotel services could also generate extensive business opportunities for other industries
such as architectural, construction and engineering services, equipment supply,
advertising and public relations services.
Hong Kong and Singapore are also exporting their services to meet the demand of
non-service oriented business. Two notable examples are oil drilling and chemicals. Oil
drilling in China requires the building of support bases. Since 1983, Singapore has
started to export consultancy services to China on how to establish supply bases. The
services include base management, equipment maintenance, labour training and the
development of telecommunications. In construction, there are three types of
construction services which Hong Kong and Singapore export: (1) planning and
architectural design services,
design services, (2) construction work and (3) maintenance and
management.
Both Hong Kong's and Singapore's selling point lies in their proven
experience in infrastructural development - their highways, housing estates, airport and
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