ENG-1980 — Page 38

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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land. By the end of the year, 163 applications had been received and sites had been offered to 27 companies. A second industrial estate, which is under construction at Yuen Long, will provide a further 72 hectares of land. This estate is scheduled for completion in 1982, although sites will become available well before then. Both industrial estates are managed by the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation which is an independent statutory body, established in March, 1977.

To assist industrialists who wish to start manufacturing immediately, the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation has decided to build a four-storey standard factory block with units constructed with maximum flexibility to suit the varied requirements of potential occupiers.

Outside the industrial estates, 42 sites were sold for industrial use. These had an overall area of 147,711 square metres and special development conditions were attached to 14 of them. The conditions called for the provision of heavy loading capacities and high ceilings on some floors to accommodate certain types of machinery and, in the case of smaller sites, for 20 per cent of the space provided to consist of units not larger than 75 square metres to cater for small industries.

The government also proceeded with the construction of flatted factories to accommodate, in permanent buildings, squatter workshops and small operators cleared for public purposes. One of these factory blocks was completed in 1980, and another is scheduled for comple- tion in 1981.

Advisory Committee on Diversification

During 1980, steps were taken to implement the series of recommendations contained in the report (completed at the end of 1979) by the Advisory Committee on Diversification, which was appointed by the Governor to advise on whether the process of diversification of the economy, with particular reference to the manufacturing sector, could be facilitated by the modification of existing policies or the introduction of new ones.

In the area of industrial development, the advisory committee recommended that the government should seek to improve the provision of industrial support facilities and tech- nical back-up services for manufacturing industries, and establish an Industrial Develop- ment Board to plan, monitor and advise on the provision of such services. Recommenda- tions on improving and expanding government resources on industrial investment promotion were accepted by the Governor in Council. In line with these recommendations an Industrial Promotion Committee, chaired by the Commissioner of Industry, was set up to plan and co-ordinate promotional activities. Plans were also made to set up overseas industrial pro- motion offices of the Trade Industry and Customs Department in Europe, Japan and the United States.

Industrial Investment Promotion

The Trade Industry and Customs Department continued to work closely with leading trade and industrial organisations in the promotion of industrial investment in Hong Kong. Major activities in 1980 included a series of industrial investment promotion missions to Australia, Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the United States. These missions were combined, where appropriate, with visits to or participa- tion in trade, industrial and technology exchange fairs.

Although most industrial enterprises are Hong Kong-financed and managed, at the end of the year there were at least 460 factories either fully or partly-owned by overseas interests - 7.7 per cent more than in 1979. These factories employed 87,000 workers or 10 per cent