INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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travel goods and handbags, footwear and flowers, packaging materials and plastic parts, and components for electronic and electrical products. Domestic exports of plastic products amounted to $9,911 million in 1989, compared with $11,847 million in 1988. The plastics industry employed 63 557 persons or eight per cent of total manufacturing employment.
Other Industries
Other important light industries produce metal products, electrical appliances, jewellery, photographic and optical goods, travel goods and handbags.
The manufacture of industrial machinery provides support to many other local manu- facturing industries and, at the same time, contributes to Hong Kong's export trade. Of particular importance are blow-moulding, injection-moulding and extrusion machines; metal-processing machinery such as power presses, lathes, shapers, drilling machines and polishing machines; printing presses; textile knitting and warping machines, and electro- plating equipment. About 75 per cent of industrial machinery produced in Hong Kong is sold for local use.
Hong Kong has also proved its ability to produce sophisticated parts and components and other semi-manufactures of high quality. This development is beneficial to its manu- facturing industries as the quality of finished products depends heavily on the capability of the linkage industries that service them.
Hong Kong's shipyards provide a competitive repair service and build a variety of vessels. Several large shipbuilding and repair yards on Tsing Yi Island provide services to the shipping industry and construct and service oil rigs.
The aircraft engineering industry has a high international reputation and provides ex- tensive maintenance and repair services. Facilities are available for the complete overhaul of airframes and engines for many types of aircraft.
Industry Development Board
The Industry Development Board, chaired by the Financial Secretary, is the government's advisory body on all major industry-related matters. Members of the board include prom- inent industrialists, government officials and representatives from the tertiary education sector and other trade and industry organisations.
Industry Policies
The government's industrial policies aim at maintaining an infrastructure which enables manufacturing businesses to function efficiently, and providing services which enable in- dustry to become more competitive through productivity growth, quality improvement and product innovation. The government encourages technology transfer through an inward investment promotion programme.
Industry Department
The Industry Department is responsible for the implementation of the government's in- dustrial policies. It aims at improving the competitiveness of Hong Kong's manufacturing industries by providing developmental and infrastructural support and promoting inward investment where this introduces new or improved products, designs, processes and management techniques into Hong Kong.
The department carries out techno-economic and market research studies on the major industries, and smaller-scale studies of other selected industries, to enable the government