XN000022-1982-11-10 — Page 5

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1982

ON INDUSTRIAL LAND, MR DORWARD POINTED OUT THAT FOR SOME YEARS GOVERNMENT HAD BEEN EXHORTED TO INTERFERE WITH THE MARKET MECHANISM SO AS TO PROVIDE CHEAP, OR LESS EXPENSIVE, LAND FOR INDUSTRY.

MR DORWARD EMPHASISED THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S LAND POLICY IN CONSIDERING INDUSTRIAL LAND VALUES TODAY. +THERE ARE, OF COURSE, OTHER FACTORS AT PLAY - ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL - BUT THE REDUCTION IN THESE VA ES IS TO A SUBSTANTIAL DEGREE THE CONSEQUENCE OF A DELIBERATE GOVERNMENT POLICY TO ASSIST INDUSTRY BY PROVIDING MORE, AND THEREFORE LESS EXPENSIVE, LAND.

+THE OPERATION OF THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND CAN BE SLOWED DOWN, BUT IT CANNOT, IN THE END, BE STOPPED.

+ IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE EXACT COMPARISONS, FOR THERE ARE A NUMBER OF VARIABLE FACTORS, BUT IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT THE SELLING PRICES FOR COMPLETED INDUSTRIAL SPACE IN SINGAPORE TODAY ARE PROBABLY BETWEEN TWO AND THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN THEY ARE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES,+ MR DORWARD SAID.

OUTLINING ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT TO PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT, SUCH AS THE SETTING UP OF OFFICES IN TOKYO, LONDON, STUTTGART AND SAN FRANCISCO, MR DORWARD SAID: +THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A STRANGE TIME TO BE EXPANDING THESE ACTIVITIES, GIVEN THE GENERAL ECONOMIC CLIMATE.

+I BELIEVE, HOWEVER, THAT THIS IS IN FACT THE RIGHT TIME TO ESTABLISH AND EXPAND PROMOTIONAL FACILITIES SO THAT WHEN THE EXPANSIONIST SPRING FOLLOWS THE WINTER OF RECESSION, WE SHALL BE POISED TO TAKE MAXIMUM ADVANTAGE.

+IT IS, I THINK, A SUSTAINABLE ARGUMENT IN ANY CASE THAT PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT IN BAD TIMES THAN IN GOOD.+

IN REPLY TO THE HON MARIA TAM'S SUGGESTION THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ADVISE WOULD-BE MANUFACTURERS WHICH FIELD OF PRODUCTION WAS REACHING SATURATION POINT, AND TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON OVERSEAS MARKET TRENDS, MR DORWARD SAID: +1 BELIEVE THAT THE SAME ENDS COULD BE, AND INDEED ARE BEING, ACHIEVED - AND MORE EFFECTIVELY - BY USING THE FACILITIES OF THE TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.

+IT IS, I SUPPOSE, INEVITABLE THAT THE BEST KNOWN ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNCIL ARE THE MORE PUBLICISED ONES, FASHION SHOWS AND MISSIONS AND THE LIKE. BUT DAY BY DAY THE TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL IS PROVIDING AN UNSPECTACULAR BUT VERY VALUABLE SERVICE IN BRINGING TOGETHER LOCAL AND OVERSEAS BUSINESSMEN TO SATISFY THEIR MUTUAL NEEDS, HE SAID.

REFERRING TO MR TIEN'S CALL FOR THE SPEEDY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S STANDARDS AND CALIBRATION LABORATORY, MR DORWARD TOLD THE COUNCIL THAT PREPARATIONS WERE WELL ADVANCED AND THE LABORATORY WAS EXPECTED TO BE OPERATIONAL BY MID-1983.

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