INDUSTRY AND TRADE
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AND PRODUCTIVITY
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The rapid expansion of industry in Hong Kong has created a demand for trained personnel at all levels. At managerial level the Hong Kong Management Association provides courses to suit the particular circumstances of Hong Kong covering general, office, personnel, financial, production and marketing management. The Technical College includes management studies in both full-time and part-time diploma courses in management subjects and work study, and offers courses in plant layout, materials handling, production planning and control, quality control, work study, preventive main- tenance and allied subjects for those engaged in production work. Courses are also offered for the training of industrial supervisors and estate managers, especially for building supervisors and building caretakers.
Measures have also been taken to meet the pressing demand for skilled supervisors, artisans and operatives. They include the appointment of an industrial training advisory committee to assess and review the need for skilled craftsmen, production workers and technicians. To encourage the development of facilities for operative training within particular industries, the government is also prepared to make land available free of premium for suitable non-profit- making projects.
The introduction of new methods through industrial_training programmes for both management and labour is to be co-ordinated and expanded by the establishment of a productivity centre under the direction of a Productivity Council. A provisional Productivity Council is already in being and includes representatives of official, management, labour, academic and professional interests, with an official chairman. The government has accepted, in principle, re- sponsibility for the provision of approximately $12.5 million to cover the first five years' expenditure. The centre, when fully developed, will provide training for specialists, managers and supervisors, a managerial consultancy service, technical assistance and a specialist library, and will facilitate liaison between local and overseas organi- zations.
Hong Kong is one of the 11 member countries of the Asian Productivity Organization, whose object is co-operation among Asian countries to raise productivity. Hong Kong was represented