THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1979/
HE POINTED OUT THAT THE STAGE THE GOVERNMENT IS AT PRESENT EMBARKED ON INVOLVES:
* A CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF
FORMING LAND ON CHEK LAP KOK FOR A REPLACEMENT AIRPORT-
* THE PREPARATION OF A LAYOUT PLAN TO SHOW THE
CONFIGURATION OF THE RUNWAYS, THE AIRPORT APPROACH ZONES AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE AIRPORT WITHIN WHICH THE REQUIRED AREAS FOR ALL THE NECESSARY AIRPORT FACILITIES AND FUNCTIONS CAN BE DETERMINED-
* THE COLLECTION OF METEOROLOGICAL DATA-
* A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF
CLOSING KAI TAK- AND OF COURSE UPDATED TRAFFIC FORECASTS.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION
IN REPLY TO A QUESTION RAISED BY THE HON. ALLEN LEE AT AN EARL FER BUDGET DEBATE, MR. JEAFFRESON POINTED OUT THAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DIVERSIFICATION IS NEAR TO COMPLETING ITS STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC POLICIES OF A NUMBER OF ASIAN COUNTRIES.
THE COMMITTEE WAS APPOINTED TO ADVISE WHETHER THE PROCESS OF DIVERS IF ICATION OF THE ECONOMY, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR, CAN BE FACILITATED BY THE MODIFICATION OF EXISTING POLICIES OR THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW POLICIES.+
THE PRESENT POLICIES, MR. JEAFFRESON EXPLAINED, INCLUDE PROVIDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN WHICH INDUSTRY CAN DEVELOP (LAND, ROADS, AND A LOW TAX STRUCTURE FOR EXAMPLE), MAINTAINING ACCESS TO OVERSEAS MARKETS AND REMOVING BARRIERS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, TO DEVELOPMENT (INADEQUATE TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR EXAMPLE).
OF MORE IMMEDIATE DIRECT ASSISTANCE, PERHAPS, ARE THE INDUSTRIAL ESTATES AND PROMOTION OF INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT, HE NOTED.
IN CONCLUSION, MR. JEAFFRESON SAID THE GOVERNMENT IS +PONDERING+, AS MR. LEE HAD PUT IT, WHETHER IT SHOULD CHANGE ITS CURRENT POLICY AND ASSIST INDUSTRY IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN GROWTH IN EXPORTS.+
INVISIBLES
MR. JEAFFRESON AGREED WITH THE HON. D.K. NEWBIGGING THAT THERE IS A NEED TO QUANTIFY THE CONTRIBUTION OF LESS WELL-DOCUMENTED ELEMENTS OF OUR INVISIBLE TRADE+, AND THAT SUCH INFORMATION +MIGHT EVEN PUT THE WIDENING GAP IN OUR VISIBLE TRADE IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT.+
HE ASSURED MR. NEWBIGGING THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT IGNORING THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THIS ASPECT OF THE ECONOMY, EVEN IN A STATISTICAL CONTEXT.
R-CALL