XN000022-1985-03-29 — Page 8

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FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1985

THE STUDY WHICH WILL COST ABOUT $1.25 MILLION WILL START NEXT MONTH, AND TAKE ABOUT TEN MONTHS TO COMPLETE.

THE SECOND PROJECT WILL BE CARRIED OUT BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR MOULD AND DIE DESIGN TO PROMOTE COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) AND COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURE (CAM) FOR THE HONG KONG MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS ELECTRONICS, TOYS AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS WHICH DEPEND HEAVILY ON PRECISION AND SPEED IN THE PRODUCTION OF TOOLING.

THE PROJECT WILL TAKE ABOUT TWO YEARS TO COMPLETE AND WILL COST $1.97 MILLION,

MR YAXLEY EXPLAINED THAT THESE TWO PROJECTS ARE THE LATEST IN THE SERIES OF ON-GOING TECHNO-ECONOMIC STUDIES OF THE MAJOR SECTORS OF HONG KONG INDUSTRIES AND OF GOVERNMENT SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND POLYTECHNICS.

THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD ALSO CONSIDERED TWO OTHER PROPOSALS. THE FIRST IS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPANY, INITIALLY SUPPORTED BY GOVERNMENT, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCT INNOVATION AND DESIGN. THE SECOND PROPOSAL WAS IN RESPECT OF THE EXPANSION OF THE HONG KONG PRODUCTIVITY CENTRE TO ENABLE IT TO IMPLEMENT ON A UNIFIED BASIS CERTAIN ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS ALREADY RECOMMENDED BY THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD.

MR YAXLEY STRESSED, HOWEVER, THAT NO FUNDS HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR EITHER OF THESE TWO PROJECTS AT THIS TIME.

DB APPOINTMENTS NOT ARBITRARY

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LIAO

THE PRIME OBJECTIVE IN THE SYSTEM OF APPOINTING MEMBERS TO THE DISTRICT BOARDS IS TO ENSURE THAT THE BOARDS WILL BE ABLE TO FUNCTION EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY, THE SECRETARY FOR DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, MR DONALD LIAO SAID TODAY.

ADDRESSING THE BI-WEEKLY ASSEMBLY OF NEW ASIA COLLEGE, HE SAID THERE WAS NOTHING ARBITRARY IN THE RECENT APPOINTMENTS OF THE 132 MEMBERS WHO WILL JOIN THE 237 ELECTED MEMBERS ON THE 19 BOARDS FROM MONDAY (APRIL 1).

/+THE GUIDING