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Hong Kong success and Government's contributions

The Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, in wrapping up the past success and government's contributions to the success of the economic history of Hong Kong, believed that the time had come to give the services sector the place it deserves in economic policies.

He said the economic history of Hong Kong could be summed up very simply.

"Manufacturing formed the backbone of our economy for three decades from the 1950s. During those years, the 'Made in Hong Kong' label came to mean high- class fashions instead of cheap textiles.

"This transformation became a symbol the world over of our determination to lay the foundations of the economic and social success we now enjoy," he said today (Wednesday).

However, the Financial Secretary noted that over the past 15 years, Hong Kong had undergone a second revolution in the way the people earned their living.

He said by last year, 72 per cent of the total workforce was employed in the services sector, and 83 per cent of GDP came from services and even if the public sector was excluded, services still account for an astonishing 73 per cent of GDP.

Mr Tsang said the change brought about, perhaps inevitable in a free-market economy, had been so swift that "it has taken us policy-makers time to catch up with. the new economic reality".

change.

"Entrepreneurs and markets, and not Financial Secretaries, must lead economic

"I believe that the time has come to give the services sector the place it deserves in our economic policies." he said.

According to Mr Tsang, a service economy simply means to enable people to earn their living by selling their skills, creativity, enterprise, professionalism and reputation for integrity or to put it another way, was to move up market as an economy and as a community.

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Noting the achievements in this pursuit. Mr Tsang said Hong Kong now already had a well-educated and skilled workforce. The recurrent spending on education has increased 61 per cent in real terms in the past 10 years.

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