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The second myth was that the Government did not provide appropriate training for employees, Mr Tsang said.

"Apart from our traditional higher education institutes that provide a wide range of general academic and professional subjects to 15,000 students annually, there are a number of specialised institutions that teach knowledge required in trade, industry and

commerce.

"In my last Budget, I gave a special tax incentive for any employee who wants to improve through further education," he said.

The third myth was that the Government had not assisted the manufacturing and service industries in facing increasing competition, said Mr Tsang.

"The fact is that while it is against our market driven philosophy to directly subsidise favoured industries and help protect them with selective tariff barriers, we indirectly assist SMEs by providing them with the best possible environment in which to grow, upgrade and fight off competition," he said.

The Government was providing the hard and soft infrastructure to help businesses to improve productivity, technology management and business practices to add more value to their products and services, he added.

This included government's funding support for research and development such as the Industrial Support Fund and the newly set up Services Support Fund for projects to enhance the competitiveness of the service sector.

Mr Tsang said within the framework of "minimum interference", there was always room for improvement and fine-tuning.

"That is why we set up a Small and Medium Enterprises Committee last month to help us identify more clearly the issues that affect the development of SMEs," he said.

In concluding his speech, the Financial Secretary said Hong Kong had become a "commercial nerve centre" in the Asia Pacific Region and excelled as an active packager and integrator of commerce for the local, regional and global economy.

"With appropriate support. SMEs can ride the wave of globalisation trend and prosper," said Mr Tsang.

End