TNAG-1873-FCO40-2661-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1989 — Page 187

19.

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Foreign investors often second managerial staff

to manage their production plants in Guangdong so as to

Hence, guarantee work efficiency and secure profits. managerial skills are often introduced as a by-product of

this investment.

20.

Although most Guangdong officials encountered during visits claimed that technology transfer brought about by foreign investment was important in addition to money and jobs, it appears to be no more than a secondary consideration as practically all types of foreign

investment projects which can maintain a favourable

foreign exchange balance seem to be welcome.

Guangdong's spatial development strategy

(a) Concentration versus dispersal

21.

Unlike the concentrated development seen in Hong

(29)

Kong and the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone industrial development in the Pearl River Delta region is dispersed over a large area and there is apparently no systematic land use zoning. Such a spatial development -- concept is probably permitted because of the need to provide industrial employment for surplus agricultural

labour in rural areas.

܂

(29) Experience in Hong Kong and other countries suggest

that the development of urban concentration is a pre-requisite for industrialisation. At the initial stage of development, industrial activities tend to be concentrated in the city cores. It is normally only after development in the city core reaches saturation that new towns in the suburbs are developed. In the case of Hong Kong, the balanced development of the new towns represents an important target of the Government's development strategy.

G.F. 326

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