LCQ8: Hong Kong Productivity Council

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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (January 26):

Question:

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following regarding the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and its subsidiaries in each of the past three years:

(a) the respective total number of employees;

(b) the respective establishments of their departments/units, and the respective numbers of employees who were made redundant, newly employed and transferred;

(d) whether non-Hong Kong residents were employed; if so, the number involved and its percentage in the total number of employees;

(e) among the organisations they served, the respective numbers of such organisations which did and did not operate manufacturing processes in Hong Kong;

(f) the respective amounts of funds dedicated to serving the two types of organisations mentioned in item (e), and the respective percentages of such amounts in the total amounts spent; and

(g) if HKPC and its subsidiaries do not have the above statistics, the reasons for that, and whether the Administration will request them to collect and keep the relevant statistics?

Reply:

Madam President,

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has established five subsidiaries, namely Design Innovation (HK) Limited, Clothing Technology Demonstration Centre Company Limited, BMM Limited, Productivity (Holdings) Limited (Note 1), and HKPC Technology (Holdings) Company Limited. Since the work of the HKPC Technology (Holdings) Company Limited is undertaken by the staff of the HKPC, the company has not recruited any employees, nor has it conducted any training courses. The following replies therefore do not cover this company.

(a) The total number of employees of the HKPC and its four subsidiaries in the past three years were 734, 670 and 639 respectively. Information on the number of employees of each organisation is detailed in Annex 1 for reference.

(b) The distribution of the employees of the HKPC and its four subsidiaries in the past three years is detailed in Annex 2 for reference.

Apart from cases of retirement, contract expiry and resignation, a total of four employees were dismissed by the HKPC and its four subsidiaries in the past three years. A total of 155 employees were newly recruited. The relevant information is detailed in Annexes 3 and 4 respectively for reference.

On the number of employees redeployed internally, HKPC had re-aligned its service and made appropriate redeployment arrangement in the past three years, in order to achieve a more effective utilisation of human resources and to meet the changing service needs of the industry. In 2004, upon the implementation of a new strategy to facilitate Hong Kong's industries to move up the value chain and enhance their competitiveness, the HKPC reviewed its organisational structure for better focus on the development of its core competencies. Accordingly, a total of 49 HKPC staff needed to be redeployed. For 2002 and 2003, the HKPC has not compiled similar statistics.

The four subsidiaries of the HKPC did not make any staff redeployment arrangement in the past three years.

(c) In the past three years the HKPC conducted 1,064, 807 and 359 training courses respectively, whereas the Productivity (Holdings) Limited has provided 18 training courses since 2004. Information on total intakes, the amount of tuition fees received, etc is detailed in Annex 5 for reference. The other three subsidiaries of the HKPC did not provide any training courses.

(d) Except in the case of Productivity (Holdings) Limited (Note 2), the employees of the HKPC and its other subsidiaries were all Hong Kong residents.

(e) The HKPC has not conducted any systematic information collection or statistical surveys on whether its clients have any manufacturing processes in Hong Kong. Indeed most of its clients are from the manufacturing industries and relevant sectors.

(f) Since the HKPC does not make reference to whether its clients have any manufacturing processes in Hong Kong in determining the amount and proportion of its resource allocation, it did not possess such information.

(g) In order to meet the changing service needs of the industries, the HKPC must redeploy its resources and manpower flexibly to facilitate provision of appropriate services in the light of prevailing circumstances. The consultations and surveys conducted by the HKPC on the industries are focused on their service requirements instead of whether they have any manufacturing processes in Hong Kong. Therefore, the HKPC does not specifically compile or maintain the statistics in questions.

As always, the HKPC's mission is to serve Hong Kong enterprises. With the closer economic cooperation and integration between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD), many Hong Kong enterprises also have manufacturing operations in the PRD. In accordance with the consultancy study on HKPC's role, management and operation completed in 2002, the main geographical focus of the HKPC should be Hong Kong and the PRD. The recommendations have been reported to the Legislative Council Panel on Commerce and Industry. Accordingly, the Productivity (Holdings) Limited has set up offices in Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen to enhance its support to Hong Kong enterprises in the PRD.

Note 1:

The Productivity (Holdings) Limited has established three consulting companies in Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen respectively. Information on the three consulting companies has been incorporated into that of the Productivity (Holdings) Limited.

Note 2:

The Productivity (Holdings) Limited established the consulting companies in Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen and employed 24 employees. All the employees are Mainland residents.

Ends/Wednesday, January 26, 2005

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