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Following is a question by the Hon Ip Wai-ming and a written reply by the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
Question:
At its fourth meeting held on April 3 this year, the Task Force on Economic Challenges agreed to study how to further develop the six economic areas where Hong Kong has enjoyed clear advantages, namely testing and certification, medical services, innovation and technology, cultural and creative industries, environmental industry, and educational services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective percentage shares of the aforesaid economic areas in the Gross Domestic Product, as well as the number of people they employed, in each of the past three years;
(b) whether the Government will implement preferential policies on land, taxation, training of manpower resources and attracting talent, etc., so as to develop these economic areas; if it will, of the details; and
(c) of the anticipated number of jobs which can be created following the development of each economic area?
Reply:
President,
The Chief Executive established the Task Force on Economic Challenges (TFEC) in October last year to continually monitor and assess the impact of the financial tsunami on local and global markets, and provide timely evaluation of its impact on the local economy and our major industries.
The Government will continue to adhere to the strategy of "stabilising the financial system, supporting enterprises and preserving employment" to implement various short and medium-term measures and policies to combat the impact of the financial tsunami on the Hong Kong economy, our industries and the employment market. In addition to the measures announced in this year's Budget, the Financial Secretary announced on May 26 a new round of relief measures to strengthen our efforts to combat the financial crisis, alleviate the pressure faced by our people as a result of the financial crisis and prepare for an economic recovery.
Another major objective of the TFEC is to propose specific options for the Government and business community to address the challenges, and help us turn crisis into new business opportunities and enhance our competitiveness. This will lay a more solid foundation for the sustained development of our economy in future. The financial tsunami has led us to examine closely what other new economic areas Hong Kong should continue to support and develop in addition to the traditional ones.
After its Fourth Meeting held on April 3, 2009, the TFEC proposed six economic areas where Hong Kong has good potential for further development as the priority areas for focused study. They are testing and certification; medical services; innovation and technology; cultural and creative industries; environmental industry; and educational services. Response to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(a) For cultural and creative industries, the estimated share of value added to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (in %) for 2005, 2006 and 2007 are 3.7%, 3.7% and 3.9% respectively, and the number of persons engaged in the industries in 2005, 2006 and 2007 are 162,470, 170,050 and 172,490 respectively.
Comprehensive figures on the individual share of the GDP and employment figures for the rest of the economic areas identified by the TFEC are however not readily available. Based on the available information, it is noted that the ratio of the total consumption expenditure to GDP in 2007 for medical services and educational services are at 4.3% and 4.6% respectively, whereas for innovation and technology, the ratio of total business technological innovation expenditure to GDP in 2007 is 1.0%.
The Census and Statistics Department is compiling the relevant statistics which will be released as and when available.
(b) To further explore room for the development of the economic areas and related implementation issues, the Central Policy Unit has organised a series of focus group discussions from late-April to mid-May with participation of trade representatives, academia, researchers, TFEC members and government officials. In the light of the views expressed at the focus group discussions, we are further studying what the Government can do to make best use of the advantages enjoyed by these industries to facilitate their development, for instance, through policy, legislation and provision of land and other resources, etc.
We will consolidate the views received and report them to the TFEC at its next meeting for further consideration. The Government will carefully study and consider the views of the community and the TFEC before making a decision on the order of priority, and specific policies and measures for the development of these industries, with a view to drawing up a development blueprint suitable for Hong Kong as soon as possible.
(c) We believe that the six economic areas have development potential and will give rise to substantial synergy among each other. They will support Hong Kong's other economic pillars, promote the development of Hong Kong into a knowledge-based economy, benefiting the employment market as a whole. However, as the policy and measures to develop the six economic areas are to be finalised, we have not yet had any estimate of the number of jobs which can be created following the development of each economic area at this stage.
Ends/Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:19
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