TNAG-1362-FCO40-1808-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 213

SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE THE. SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY IN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON 18 APRIL 1985

Sir,

I move that the Hong Kong Industrial

Estates Corporation (Amendment) Bill 1985 be read

the second time.

2.

The main purpose of the Bill is to provide

that the size of the Corporation's Board be increased

by one, and changed to permit an unofficial majority.

The opportunity is also taken to make clear that

the Chief Executive of the Corporation may be a public

officer.

3.

The Industrial Estates Corporation was

established in 1977 with the basic purposes of

developing, letting and managing the industrial estates

to be constructed at Tai Po and Yuen Long. During

the first three or four years of its life, demand for

sites at the Tai Po Estate, the first to be developed,

was brisk. Subsequently, however, interest among

industrialists slackened for a number of reasons.

These included the drop in property prices which made

land in the industrial estates, the price of which

was linked to the costs of development, less competitive

with sites and premises elsewhere. (I am pleased to

add there has been a significant increase in interest

recently.)