XN000022-1990-10-30 — Page 2

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1990

GOVT COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT IN MANUFACTURING: GOVERNOR

HONG

THE GOVERNMENT RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING TO KONG'S ECONOMY AND REMAINS COMMITTED ΤΟ SUPPORTING ITS DEVELOPMENT, THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID WILSON, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).

SPEAKING AT THE PRESENTATION CEREMONY OF THE 1990 GOVERNOR'S AWARD FOR INDUSTRY, SIR DAVID SAID THE GOVERNMENT WOULD DO THIS IN THE FUTURE AS IT HAD IN THE PAST, BY ENSURING THAT MANUFACTURERS HAD THE LAND, THE TRAINED MANPOWER, AND THE ACCESS ΤΟ TECHNOLOGY WHICH THEY NEEDED.

"THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, THE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES TRAINING FUND AND THE HONG KONG INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY CENTRE ARE RECENT EXAMPLES OF INITIATIVES AT ADDRESSING THESE NEEDS," SIR DAVID SAID.

AIMED

HOWEVER, THE GOVERNOR SAID THAT THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE WAS ESSENTIALLY ONE OF SUPPORT,

"IT CAN REMOVE CONSTRAINTS. IT CAN CREATE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHOICES. BUT IT CANNOT, AND SHOULD NOT, TAKE DECISIONS WHICH ARE FOR MANUFACTURERS THEMSELVES TO TAKE.

"THIS IS AN AXIOM WHICH IS AT THE HEART OF OUR ECONOMIC POLICIES: THAT BUSINESSMEN ARE BETTER PLACED TO TAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR BUSINESSES THAN CIVIL SERVANTS, THE GOVERNOR SAID.

H

ULTIMATELY, HE ADDED, IT WAS UP TO MANUFACTURERS THEMSELVES TO DECIDE HOW TO USE THE RESOURCES AT THEIR DISPOSAL.

SIR DAVID POINTED OUT THAT MANUFACTURING WAS NOW MORE COMPLEX THAN EVER BEFORE.

HE NOTED THAT TEAMS OF HIGHLY-TRAINED TECHNICIANS NOW OVERSAW PROCESSES WHICH, LESS THAN 20 YEARS AGO, NEEDED ONLY A KNOWLEDGE OF SIMPLE MANUAL SKILLS.

THE PROCESSES WERE HIGHLY SPECIALISED AND OFTEN HIGHLY FRAGMENTED, SIR DAVID SAID, ADDING THAT COORDINATION THROUGH LEADERSHIP WAS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS.

"LIKE THE GENERAL OF AN ARMY, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF A MODERN MANUFACTURING COMPANY MUST KNOW WHAT HIS FORCES CAN AND CANNOT DO, AND THEN DEPLOY THEM SENSIBLY.

"BUT SENSIBLE

MANAGEMENT IS ONLY HALF THE BATTLE,

THE

GOVERNOR SAID.

"THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE ALSO HAS TO MAKE SURE THAT HIS COMPANY CREATIVE, HE ADDED.

IS

/SIR DAVID