XN000022-1980-10-22 — Page 25

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1980

THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY - HONG KONG'S SUCCESS STORY

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IN THE LAST 20 YEARS HONG KONG'S ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY HAS GROWN FROM ABOUT 100 WORKERS PRODUCING CHEAP TRANSISTOR RADIOS TO MORE THAN 90 000 PEOPLE OR ABOUT TEN PER CENT OF THE WORKFORCE - EARNING OVER $6-1/2 BILLION FROM EXPORTING THE MOST SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS.

MR BILL DORWARD, DIRECTOR OF TRADE INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS OPENING THE HONG KONG ELECTRONICS SHOW 80 TODAY SAID THAT BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSITY OF THE APPLICATION OF ITS TECHNOLOGY IT WAS NO LONGER MEANINGFUL TO TALK SIMPLY ABOUT THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY.

*WHILE LAST YEAR RADIOS STILL ACCOUNTED FOR NEARLY HALF OF LOCAL PRODUCTION AND COMPONENTS, CALCULATORS, SEMI-CONDUCTORS AND INTEGRATED CIRCUITS MADE UP MUCH OF THE REST THE TOY INDUSTRY, ONCE SIMPLY PLASTIC AND DRY CELL BATTERIES, IS NOW INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON INTEGRATED CIRCUITS FOR EVERYTHING FROM CHILDREN'S TOYS TO CHESS SETS,+ MR DORWARD SAID.

+ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC GROWTH SECTORS IS THE ELECTRONIC WATCH INDUSTRY. LAST YEAR IT EARNED $2-1/4 BILLION IN EXPORTS. IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR IT SHOWED AN ASTOUNDING GROWTH RATE OF NEARLY 70 PER CENT OVER THE FIRST HALF OF 1979.+

LARGELY SPURRED ON BY THE ELECTRONIC WATCH INDUSTRY'S SUCCESS, THE FRONTIERS OF THE INDUSTRY CONTINUE TO BE PUSHED OUT, HE SAID.

+THERE ARE THREE WAFER DIFFUSION PLANTS IN PROCESS OF BEING ESTABLISHED IN THE RELATIVELY CLEAN AND VIBRATION FREE SURROUNDINGS OF THE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE AT TAI PO.

+THIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE BACKWARD INTEGRATION PROCESS WILL FURTHER REDUCE THE DEPENDENCE OF HONG KONG INDUSTRY ON IMPORTED COMPONENTS.+

ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING CONSEQUENCES OF THE STEADY UPGRADING OF THE INDUSTRY, MR DORWARD SAID, HAS BEEN THE REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN.

+HONG KONG-BORN ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS HAVE BEEN TRICKLING BACK FROM SELF-IMPOSED EXILE IN SILICONE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. THEY SOUGHT EMPLOYMENT ABROAD SOME YEARS AGO, HAVING FOUND THEMSELVES OVERQUALIFIED FOR HONG KONG'S INDUSTRY AT THAT TIME.

+THIS SEEMS TO ME A VALUABLE SOURCE OF EXPERIENCE WHICH LOCAL INDUSTRY SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO TAP IN FUTURE, HE SAID.

HONG KONG'S ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY HAS MORE OVERSEAS PARTICIPATION THAN ANY OTHER MAJOR SECTOR.

/+IT HAS