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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 2nd October 1969.
[DR CHUNG] Motion
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Lest honourable Members feel that I am now advocating export subsidies and domestic market protection, let me hasten to say that this is not my intention. I am far from convinced that a viable economy in Hong Kong can result from such cushioning. What I really want to emphasize is that conditions prevailing in other countries do not neces- sarily exist here, and thus the standards and norms applicable elsewhere cannot be always used in Hong Kong. Industrial training is a good case in point. Where elsewhere the responsibility for adequate in- dustrial training, including organization and cost, may be shouldered by industry, in Hong Kong because of the reasons I have already given, I feel that it should not, in the overall interests of our economic develop- ment, be left to industry alone. I, therefore, urge Government to re- consider its policy on industrial training, particularly training for the basic electrical and mechanical engineering craftsmen and for the in- dustrial supervisory skills. These basic engineering craftsmen and in- dustrial supervisors are needed in every industry, though the former admittedly in varying quantities from industry to industry.
Still on the question of training, as many people see it, the Labour Department mainly exists to protect the interests of labour against the few unscrupulous employers who may be found here as in any other country. This is, of course, an important task especially in the present circumstances of Hong Kong where we do not have responsible unions for looking after the interests of labour. However, I feel it is equally, if not more, important for the Labour Department to assist labour to earn higher wages by offering physical facilities for manually skilled manpower training. I believe that in helping its people to achieve higher living standards is one of the prime responsibilities of any govern- ment, and Hong Kong should certainly be no exception. It might, therefore, be more appropriate to change the name of our "Department of Labour" to the "Department of Manpower". This would be in keeping with trends elsewhere.
Talking of Government's responsibilities to the community, I would like to mention one more. When an internationally known company, or for that matter any company, sets up a manufacturing operation in countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines or Thailand, the objective is to acquire a share of the domestic market. Local production costs can be of little relevance to foreign production costs having regard to the usual protective measure or even import ban exercised by domestic government. For example, India used to be a good market for Hong Kong but since the mid-1950's practically all Hong Kong manufactured products are in those categories which are not permitted for importa- tion. Where Hong Kong itself is concerned, neither for foreign nor local industrialists manufacturing in Hong Kong does the domestic market have any real importance. Their bread and butter is the world
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