FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1987
THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY ACCOUNTED FOR $5 021 MILLION (OR 32.3 PER CENT) OF TOTAL INVESTMENT AT ORIGINAL COST FOLLOWED BY THE NON-METALLIC MINERAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRY AT $1 892 MILLION (OR 12.2 PER CENT) AND THE TEXTILES AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY AT $1 322 MILLION (OR 8.5 PER CENT).
APART FROM EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF THE SURVEY TO COVER FACTORIES KNOWN TO THE INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT TO INVOLVE INVESTMENT FROM CHINA, THE 1986 SURVEY IS AN IMPROVEMENT OVER PREVIOUS ONES IN OTHER WAYS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, DATA ON BOOK VALUE AT THE END OF THE REPORTING PERIOD AND ON NET ACQUISITION WAS COLLECTED IN ADDITION TO THAT ON CUMULATIVE INVESTMENT AT ORIGINAL COST BEFORE DEPRECIATION.
IN TERMS OF BOOK VALUE AT THE END OF THE REPORTING PERIOD, THE TOTAL VALUE OF OVERSEAS INVESTMENT WAS $12 492 MILLION. OF THIS WORKING CAPITAL ACCOUNTED FOR 53.8 PER CENT, MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT 23.4 PER CENT, AND LAND AND BUILDINGS 18.9 PER CENT.
NET ACQUISITION OF FIXED ASSETS BY INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS CONTAINING OVERSEAS INTEREST AMOUNTED TO $1 105 MILLION IN 1984 AND $1 031 MILLION IN 1985. ON A YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON THERE WAS A SLIGHT DECREASE OF 6.7 PER CENT. IN 1985, MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT ACCOUNTED FOR 68.4 PER CENT, AND LAND AND BUILDINGS 18.8 PER CENT. THE CORRESPONDING FIGURES FOR 1984 WERE 69.8 PER CENT AND 17.9 PER CENT.
COMMENTING ON THE DECREASE, MR YEUNG SAID THAT THE FIGURES FOR 1984 WORKED OUT TO $12 369 PER WORKER EMPLOYED IN THE 509 FACTORIES. +THIS COMPARES FAVOURABLY WITH $5 498 PER WORKER FOR ALL FACTORIES IN HONG KONG IN THAT YEAR. DESPITE THE FACT THAT 1985 WAS NOT CONSIDERED A GOOD YEAR FOR HONG KONG'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, THE NET ACQUISITION VALUE OF FIXED ASSETS BY THE FACTORIES SURVEYED WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY REDUCED TO $1 031 MILLION OR $11 929 PER WORKER.+
THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED WITH THE ADVICE OF THE ECONOMIC SERVICES BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT AND THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID THAT AS THE SCOPE OF THE 1986 SURVEY HAD BEEN EXPANDED, IT WAS DIFFICULT TO COMPARE THE RESULTS WITH THOSE OF PREVIOUS SURVEYS.
HE ALSO SAID THAT SIMILAR SURVEYS OF OVERSEAS INVESTMENT WILL IN FUTURE BE CONDUCTED BY THE DEPARTMENT ANNUALLY INSTEAD OF ONCE EVERY TWO OR THREE YEARS.
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