XN000022-1982-03-02 — Page 14

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1982

SURVEY RESULTS ON OVERSEAS INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT

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THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY RELEASED TODAY (TUESDAY) THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY ON OVERSEAS INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT, CONDUCTED IN THE SUMMER OF 1981.

+ONE OF THE OBJECTS OF THE EXERCISE WAS TO UP-DATE THE DEPARTMENT'S RECORD OF FACTORIES WITH OVERSEAS INVESTMENT, IN THE PAST FEW YEARS OUR STATISTICS HAVE BEEN COMPILED ON THE BASIS OF DATA COLLECTED IN A SIMILAR SURVEY CARRIED OUT IN 1977, UP-DATED PERIODICALLY WITH INFORMATION THAT BECOME AVAILABLE TO THE DEPARTMENT, SAID A TICD SPOKESMAN.

THE SURVEY REVEALS THAT IN 1981, THERE WERE 426 MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS EITHER WHOLLY OR PARTLY OWNED BY OVERSEAS INTERESTS, COMPARED WITH 484 ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE OLD RECORD. A NUMBER OF THOSE ON THE DEPARTMENT'S OLD RECORDS WERE FOUND IN THE LATEST SURVEY TO HAVE CLOSED OR BEEN COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER BY LOCAL INTERESTS.

OF THE COMPANIES SURVEYED, 391 PROVIDED FULL DETAILS TO QUESTIONS REFERRING TO THEIR CAPITAL INVESTMENT. THESE RETURNS SHOWED A TOTAL INVESTMENT FIGURE OF JUST OVER $7 000 MILLION 1.7 TIMES MORE THAN THE OLD FIGURE.

THE USA. JAPAN AND THE UK CONTINUE TO LEAD AS THE MAJOR SOURCES OF OVERSEAS INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT, ACCOUNTING FOR 43.7 PER CENT, 31.6 PER CENT AND 6.9 PER CENT OF TOTAL INVESTMENT RESPECTIVELY. THEY ARE FOLLOWED BY SWITZERLAND (2.8 PER CENT), THE NETHERLANDS (2.7 PER CENT), DENMARK (2.3 PER CENT), AND AUSTRALIA (2.2 PËR CENT).

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THE TICD SPOKESMAN SAID 1 +A COMPARISON OF THE SURVEY RESULTS WITH STATISTICS PUBLISHED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT SHOWS THAT OVERSEAS INVESTMENT PLAYS A VERY SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SOME OF HONG KONG'S INDUSTRIAL SECTORS. THESE SECTORS EMPLOY 90 059 WORKERS, OR ABOUT 10 PER CENT OF THE WORKFORCE IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.

OVERSEAS INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT IS CONCENTRATED IN THE ELECTRONICS, TEXTILES AND GARMENTS AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS SECTORS, WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR 38.1 PER CENT, 12.4 PER CENT AND 7.5 PER CENT OF TOTAL INVESTMENT RESPECTIVELY. OTHER SIGNIFICANT SECTORS INCLUDE CHEMICAL PRODUCTS (7.2 PER CENT), WATCHES AND CLOCKS (5.7 PER CENT), AND FOOD AND BEVERAGES (5.5 PER CENT).

+THEIR TOTAL SALES ADDED UP TO SLIGHTLY OVER $17 000 MILLION FOR 1980, OF WHICH 67 PER CENT WERE FOR EXPORT - EQUIVALENT TO 16.4 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S TOTAL DOMESTIC EXPORTS, HE SAID.

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