THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1984

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* THE PROVISION OF FUNDS AMOUNTING TO $4 MILLION AT THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY, CHINESE UNIVERSITY AND THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC FOR RESEARCH INTO VARIOUS PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FABRICATION AND USE OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND THE COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS.

THE SECOND REQUIREMENT WAS FOR THE EXPANSION AND CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING. THIS LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING COUNCIL WHICH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING. THE V.T.C. WOULD BE ESTABLISHING THREE NEW TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS IN ADDITION TO THE FIVE EXISTING ONES AND HAD SET UP TWO INDUSTRIAL TRAINING CENTRE COMPLEXES, HE SAID.

THIRD, THERE WAS THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THE SETTING UP OF THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO PLAN, MONITOR AND ADVISE GOVERNMENT ON VARIOUS PROGRAMMES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.

BUILDING, CONSTRUCTION FAIRLY STAGNANT, BUT VARIED'

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BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES REMAINED FAIRLY STAGNANT IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1984, THOUGH THE PERFORMANCE VARIED AMONG DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES, ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE QUARTERLY SURVEY OF CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THE TOTAL VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION WORK PERFORMED BY ALL CONTRACTORS IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1984 WAS $8 390 MILLION, REPRESENTING A DECLINE OF TWO PER CENT OVER THE PRECEDING QUARTER AND 0.9 PER CENT ON THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

CONSTRUCTION WORK PERFORMED BY MAIN CONTRACTORS IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1984 WAS $5 807 MILLION, GIVING AN INDEX OF 88.1 (WITH THE QUARTER AVERAGE OF 1982 - 100).

AS DISTINCT FROM THE FIGURE ON CONSTRUCTION WORK PERFORMED BY ALL CONTRACTORS, THE FIGURES FOR MAIN CONTRACTORS ARE FREE FROM THE EFFECT OF DOUBLE-COUNTING CONSTRUCTION VALUE DUE TO THE SUB-CONTRACTING PRACTICE OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT EXPLAINED TODAY.

THE GROSS VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION WORK PERFORMED BY MAIN CONTRACTORS AT CONSTRUCTION SITES IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1984 WAS $4 731 MILLION, WHICH WAS 6.1 PER CENT LOWER THAN IN THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND 6.6 PER CENT LOWER THAN IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. A DECLINE WAS RECORDED IN THE OUTPUT VALUE OF PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECTS, IN PARTICULAR THAT OF TRANSPORT FACILITIES.

PUBLIC SECTOR

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