ENG-1963 — Page 110

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

largest and most advanced of these schemes is at Kwun Tong, an area fronting Kowloon Bay adjacent to urban Kowloon. Between 1955 and the end of 1963 land reclaimed at Kwun Tong for industrial use was 249.6 acres; the full scheme involves the forma- tion of some 641.1 acres of useful land. Of this, 153.9 acres are designed solely for industrial use, and the rest for commercial and residential use and other services. At the end of the year there were over 170 factories operating in the area. Further sites of various sizes are being sold frequently, according to a pre-determined programme of sales. The number of workers in the area exceeds 25,000 and represents roughly 7.05 per cent of the total industrial work force. More than 150,000 persons already live in the growing township and the eventual population is expected to be over 300,000.

Several other schemes to provide much needed industrial land are either planned or under way. The largest of these involves the filling of what was formerly known as Gin Drinker's Bay at Kwai Chung in the New Territories, where development will be carried out alongside the present industrial centre of Tsuen Wan. The ship- breaking industry and its associated steel rolling plants will shortly be re-established in an area set aside for them in Junk Bay. Leases for five sites totalling over 1,700,000 square feet have already been sold by auction to local ship-breaking and steel rolling concerns and development of these sites is well in hand.

PRODUCTIVITY

It was apparent by 1963 that, with Hong Kong's increasing reliance on continued industrial development in maintaining economic viability, it was necessary for the Government to take the initiative in co-ordinating ways and means of introducing new methods into Hong Kong's industries in order to increase produc- tivity. Early in the year the Governor appointed a working com- mittee which was commissioned to study and advise on methods to increase the productivity of local firms. The committee, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner of Labour, includes repre- sentatives of interested Government departments and of various local trade and industrial associations.

In June the Colony was admitted as the ninth member in the Asian Productivity Organization. This is a non-political, non-profit- making and non-discriminatory organization established in May