THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1992
14
ΤΟ UNDERLINE THE VITAL CONNECTION BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY, MR FUNG SAID THE GOVERNMENT HAD ESTABLISHED THIS YEAR A NEW INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (ITDC), WHICH HAD REPLACED THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
"BRINGING TOGETHER EXPERTISE FROM INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE COUNCIL AND ON ITS SPECIALIST COMMITTEES IS A CLEAR RECOGNITION THAT INDUSTRY CANNOT NOW BE DISCUSSED WITHOUT REFERENCE TO TECHNOLOGY.
"WITH ITS EXPANDED TERMS OF REFERENCE AND A MORE FOCUSED APPROACH, THIS NEW COUNCIL WILL BE BETTER PLACED ΤΟ ADVISE THE GOVERNMENT ON WHAT SUPPORT SHOULD BE GIVEN TO HONG KONG'S INDUSTRY IN RESPONDING TO TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS AROUND THE WORLD, HE SAID.
++
ON THE GROWING INTIMACY BETWEEN INDUSTRIES IN HONG KONG AND SOUTHERN CHINA, MR FUNG SAID THERE WAS CLEAR EVIDENCE ΤΟ SHOW THAT THIS WAS MAKING POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS ΤΟ HONG KONG'S ECONOMY GENERALLY AND TO ITS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN PARTICULAR.
HE SAID THE REDUCTION IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES' SHARE IN HONG KONG'S GDP FROM 22 PER CENT IN 1985 TO 17 PER CENT IN 1990 WAS BALANCED BY RAPID ADVANCES IN OTHER SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY, SUCH AS TRADING, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS.
"ONE OF THE MAIN STIMULANTS OF THE ADVANCES IN OTHER SECTORS IS THE NEED TO SUPPORT THE EXPANDING PRODUCTION BASE IN SOUTHERN CHINA.
HONG
"IN SPITE OF THE CHANGE IN THE STRUCTURE OF OUR ECONOMY, KONG STILL HAS A SUBSTANTIAL MANUFACTURING SECTOR WHICH IS TODAY PRODUCING, IN REAL TERMS, 80 PER CENT MORE THAN IT DID 10 YEARS
AGO, HE SAID.
I
HAD
MOREOVER, HE SAID, ALTHOUGH THE MANUFACTURING LABOUR FORCE DECLINED IN NUMBERS (FROM 849,000 IN 1985 TO 655,000 IN 1991), PRODUCTIVITY PER PERSON ENGAGED LARGELY THE RESULT OF GREATER AUTOMATION, MORE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION PROCESSES, AND A CONCENTRATION ON HIGHER-VALUE PRODUCTS HAD GROWN AT AN IMPRESSIVE RATE.
-
-
"IN QUANTITATIVE TERMS, PRODUCTIVITY PER PERSON HAS INCREASED BY AN AVERAGE OF 10.5 PER CENT A YEAR BETWEEN 1986 AND 1991.
INDUSTRIALISED
"THIS FIGURE COMPARES VERY FAVOURABLY WITH THE EQUIVALENT RATES FOR DEVELOPED INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIES AND FOR NEWLY ECONOMIES IN THE REGION, HE SAID.
**
0
/15