XN000022-1995-12-20 — Page 7

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Productivity, measured in terms of value added per person, increased at an average annual rate of 14.4 per cent during the same period. The manufacturing sector enjoyed the highest growth rate in productivity among the four major economic sectors during 1983 to 1993. It was also higher than the growth rate of the Hong Kong economy as a whole, which was at 13.3 per cent.

Investment in Hong Kong's manufacturing industries, measured in terms of gross additions to fixed assets, increased at an average annual rate of some eight per cent between 1983 and 1993.

"These statistics demonstrate the substantial amount of manufacturing activities. in Hong Kong, and the continued importance of the manufacturing sector to our economy. But the contribution of the manufacturing sector is really much more if one takes into account the Hong Kong-owned factories in Southern China and the businesses that they have brought to Hong Kong's manufacturing-support services sector," Mrs Ip said.

Mrs Ip also pointed out that Hong Kong's manufacturing sector was well- known for its flexibility and ability to adapt to frequent changes in market demand.

"Over the years, there has been a continuous shift from the assembly of relatively labour-intensive and simple products to the manufacture of more technology-intensive and sophisticated products with a higher value-added content, she said.

The report also contains the findings of a survey of Hong Kong's manufacturing environment conducted by Industry Department between June and September this

year.

Questionnaires were sent to 2,867 sampled establishments in 14 selected manufacturing industries. A total of 2,081 valid returns were received.

When asked to comment on the favourableness of 12 given investment factors, at least half of the respondents considered six of those factors to be favourable. The six were: Hong Kong's infrastructure, banking and financial facilities, geographical location, availability of professional/technical skills, availability of managerial skills and labour productivity.

End