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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1977
NEED FOR H.K. TO CONTINUE DIVERSIFYING ITS
PRODUCTS AND MARKETS
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THE HON. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN TODAY UNDERLINED THE NEED FOR HONG KONG TO KEEP ON DIVERSIFYING ITS PRODUCTS AND MARKETS TO REMAIN ABREAST WITH ITS COMPETITORS.
SPEAKING IN THE RESUMED BUDGET DEBATE IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MR. CHEONG-LEEN EXPRESSED CONCERN OVER THE EXPORT GROWTH OF TWO OF HONG KONG'S MAIN COMPETITORS, SOUTH KOREA AND TAIWAN.
HE SAID SOUTH KOREA WAS AIMING FOR A HIGHER EXPORT TARGET THIS YEAR, PARTIALLY THROUGH USING ITS LOW WAGE STRUCTURE TO PRODUCE GOODS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF HONG KONG FOR DISTRIBUTION IN +OUR KEY EXPORT MARKETS+.
RECALLING THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S WARNING THAT THERE WAS THE DANGER OF A SLOWDOWN IN WORLD TRADE TOWARDS NEXT YEAR, MR. CHEONG-LEEN FELT IT SHOULD NOT BE COMPLACENTLY ASSUMED THAT HONG KONG'S TRADE PERFORMANCE THIS YEAR WOULD BE AS GOOD AS LAST YEAR.
AS PART OF HIS PACKAGE TO FURTHER BOOST HONG KONG'S INDUSTRY, THE UNOFFICIAL MEMBER URGED THE GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE THAT ITS LAND USE POLICY SHOULD BE CONTINUALLY GEARED TO THE NEEDS OF INDUSTRY FOR MORE LAND AND TO THE CURBING OF EXCESSIVE LAND SPECULATION.
+ INDUSTRY SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO INSTALL MORE CAPITAL INTENSIVE AND UP-TO-DATE MACHINERY, AND GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE MORE GENEROUS DEPRECIATION RATES FOR NEW MACHINERY, HE SAID.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE COMMITTEE FOR SCIENTIFIC CO-ORDINATION COULD BE RE-MODELLED INTO A SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL WITH A WIDER REPRESENTATION FROM INDUSTRY SO AS TO TAKE A MORE ACTIVE PART IN MEETING THE TECHNOLOGICAL NEEDS OF INDUSTRY THROUGH SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES.
THE GOVERNMENT, HE CONTINUED, MIGHT ALSO ENCOURAGE OR EVEN INITIATE MORE SURVEYS TO EVALUATE EXPANDING OR POTENTIALLY NEW INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, AND TO PROJECT THE GROWTH OF SUCH INDUSTRIES INTO THE 1980'S.
WHILE THINKING THAT SUPERFICIALLY HONG KONG IS NOT DOING TOO BADLY IN VIEW OF THE EXPECTED SURPLUS OF SOME $850 MILLION BY THE END OF THE YEAR, MR. CHEONG-LEEN DOUBTED WHETHER THERE WAS STILL A BALANCED EXPANSION IN THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FOR SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FACE OF SERIOUS UNDER-SPENDING BY THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
/ON PUBLIC