HONG KONG MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN THE SIXTIES
TABLE 3
SELECTED STATISTICS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
17
Percent-
1959
1969
age increase
Domestic exports
$ 2,282 mn
$ 10,518 mn
361
Employment (manufacturing industry) 177,000
in registered/recorded factories
Electricity consumption (power and
bulk supply) KW hrs
529,894
199
...
4,541
14,333
222
***
701 mn
2,105 mn
201
Manufacturing Wage Index
103
252
145
Consumer Price Index ...
101
134
32
Bank deposits (savings)
$
as a percentage of all bank deposits
315 mn
16
$ 3,367 mn
969
27
69
routines such as in the important field of origin certification; coupled with timely, effective and economical development of the physical infrastructure essential to industry-whenever practicable by the private sector (power supply, telecommunications, public transport, harbour and warehouse facilities)-otherwise by the Government (water, airport, roads, reclamations and associated services).
During the decade only on two occasions did the Government fail to secure a budgetary surplus; and it actually reduced its dimin- utive national debt. It strengthened the legal framework within which commercial banking operates. Industry in general acknowl- edges that the Government's monetary policy has been of outstand- ing benefit both in terms of the cost of materials, the comparative freedom from restrictive exchange controls, and the accumulation of deposits in commercial banks which have provided so much of industry's working capital. It is not so sure that either the commer- cial banks or the Government has given sufficient attention to the provision of development finance for industry. In 1960, an official committee found not proven the case for an institution to provide such finance. At the end of the decade, the case was once again under examination in the limited context of small scale industry.
Fresh water is one of Hong Kong's scarcest commodities and one most vital to many branches of industry. In 1959, average daily consumption, with some restriction in the dry season, was 60 million gallons a day. In 1969, average daily consumption, with no