ENG-1978 — Page 33

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

The first stage of the Tai Po Industrial Estate, the site formation work of which was completed in 1977, made available 15 hectares of land for allocation to heavier industries. A further 30 hectares were developed during 1978. The Tai Po Industrial Estate is managed by the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation. By the end of 1978 sites had been offered to 13 companies. A second industrial estate, which is to be constructed at Yuen Long, will provide a further 72 hectares of land.

The number of sites made available for industrial use increased in 1978. There were 21 sites with an overall area of 56,324 square metres sold.

Two sites sold were for buildings designed to cater for smaller factories. The government also proceeded with the construction of flatted factory blocks to accom- modate, in permanent buildings, squatter workshops and small operators to be cleared for public purposes. Two of these factory blocks are expected to be completed by mid-1979.

Hong Kong industrialists have responded to increasing competition from other developing countries in the region by continuing to modernise their operations and by moving into more sophisticated products. An increasing number of component parts for existing lines are being produced locally and the quality of finished products continues to improve.

Industrial Investment Promotion

The Trade Industry and Customs Department continued to work closely with statutory and non-statutory trade and industrial organisations in the overseas pro- motion of industrial investment in Hong Kong. Major activities in 1978 included a series of industrial investment promotion missions to Britain, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.

Although the great majority of industrial enterprises are Hong Kong-financed and managed, at the end of the year there were at least 386 factories either fully or partly-owned by overseas interests 14 per cent more than in 1977. These factories employed 78,330 workers or 10 per cent of the total work-force in the manufacturing industry. The total direct investment involved was about $2,106 million. The main sources of such investment are the United States, Japan, Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The principal industries are electronics and textiles, although there were new investments in other fields including the light and medium engineering industries. In November, the Trade Industry and Customs Department and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council jointly organised an economic mission to Japan. The high level mission included in its membership leaders in the fields of industry, trade, banking and shipping.

The four main objectives of the mission were to increase Japanese awareness of Hong Kong's economic potential; to explore jointly the opportunities existing in Hong Kong for industrial investment by Japanese companies and the acquisition of Japanese technology by Hong Kong companies; to encourage the expansion of two- way trade; and to foster good relations between Japan and Hong Kong at a senior level in both the public and private sectors.

While the mission was in Japan, it was joined by the Governor for two days of high level engagements, including calls on the Prime Minister, Finance Minister,