Hong Kong chief stresses new growth areas for HK economy
12/1/2005 17:02
New measures will be introduced to promote the development of Hong
Kong and new areas of growth will be created to bring more benefits to the
community, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa
said in Hong Kong Wednesday.
While delivering the policy address for 2005 to
the Legislative Council, Tung said the government will continue to work toward
building Hong Kong as Asia's world city. While reinforcing the traditional
strengths, Hong Kong needs to make full use of the scope for development under
"One Country, Two systems" and identify new strengths.
He said that Hong Kong
should consolidate the four core industries, namely, financial services,
producer services, logistics and tourism.
Hong Kong has for some time
transformed itself from a manufacturing-based to a services-oriented economy. To
maintain and enhance people's living standards, Hong Kong must move toward
higher value-added outputs, said Tung.
"Only by increasing the knowledge
content of our economy and continuing to innovate can we maintain our advantages
and sustain development," Tung said.
He said one of the important tasks of
the government is to step up the promotion of cultural and creative
industries.
Overseas experience shows that during economic restructuring,
cultural and creative industries can propel the economy to a new platform. In
the Asia-Pacific region, with over 2 billion people, Hong Kong is well
positioned to develop cultural and creative industries, Tung said.
Creative
industries in Hong Kong encompass 11 categories: design, architecture,
advertising, publishing, music, film, computer software, digital entertainment,
performing arts, broadcasting, and antiques and art dealing. Some fall under
Hong Kong's core industries, such as tourism, or extend to cover areas such as
community building and the creation of an urban image, Tung said.
In this new
competitive era of globalization, adding value to products and services through
design, packaging, image building and advertising serves to consolidate and
realize the intangible values of culture, said Tung.
"Our aim is to
consolidate our core industries, foster a favorable social environment to
nurture and attract versatile people with multi-skills, promote development of
cultural and creative industries, facilitate transition to a knowledge-based
economy, sustain prosperity and enhance our quality of life," Tung said.
"We
will establish, as soon as possible, a consultative framework for cultural and
creative industries, so that relevant representatives from these industries
including outstanding personalities from outside Hong Kong can participate,"
Tung said.
He mentioned that as Hong Kong's problems of urban decay and
dilapidated buildings worsen, urban renewal has become a matter of immediate
urgency. Renewing old districts and restoring old buildings can be a major force
for economic growth. It will also increase employment for the construction
industry and related trades.
He also said that social progress depends on the
presence of talent. "We are therefore working on a strategy to attract talent
from the mainland and overseas to develop their careers in Hong Kong. We will
initiate this plan this year."
"Promoting the development of cultural and
creative industries, accelerating urban renewal and implementing a strategy to
attract talent are three related tasks for our transition to a knowledge- based
economy," Tung added.
Xinhua
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