Government earmarks more land for industrial expansion
MORE government land for the shipping and high-technology industries will be available early next year, according to the Industry Department's annual report.
The Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation (HKIEC) expects 26 hectares of serviced land at its third industrial estate in Junk Bay to become available in early 1994.
The Junk Bay estate would provide berthing facilities on its 1,000-metre western seawall and a further 68 hectares of industrial land for sale.
HKIEC also plans to build a 55-hectare site in Tuen Mun to accommodate industries which are land-extensive, water-intensive and require waterfront access.
In addition, HKIEC has an area of 1.26 hectares in the Tai Po Industrial Estate reserved for hi-tech industries.
The Government expects the remaining sites in the two existing industrial estates under the management of HKIEC to be sold out within the next three years.
The Government recently received a report on the development of the southeast part of Junk Bay and is now surveying a 136-hectare site in Tuen Mun, beyond Tap Shek Kok.
The Tuen Mun project aims to provide land for liquified petroleum gas and liquid hydrocarbon storage, along with bulk chemical storage facilities.
The annual report says the Government has sold 11 industrial lots with a total area of 4.7 hectares through the land sales programme, and a further 545,000 square metres of levelled factory space was completed by private developers last year.
With its commitment to help industries on environmental matters, the Government has published a guide containing a summary of the pollution control legislation and advice on where to get technical consultation.
The Industry Department is also working on measures to improve Hong Kong's technical infrastructure, including the construction of a science park.
The New Technology Training Scheme, which was launched in June last year, provides local and overseas training in strategic technologies.
In the view of the expiry of workers' employment contracts under the 1990 General Labour Importation scheme, the Government has increased the quota of imported skilled workers to 13,000 under the 1993 scheme.
