Ignored lessons in economic development

    Updated: 2013-01-10 06:14

    By Hong Liang(HK Edition)

      Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按鈕 0

    In what was supposed to be a New Year message on his official blog, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah warned against "blind" pursuit of new industries as called for by more and more economists, to address the social ills arising from an imbalanced economic growth that is mainly driven by the financial and property sectors.

    Rejecting wide-spread criticisms that the government lacks long-term vision, Tsang wrote: "We must understand that a new industry takes a long time to nurture and develop, and its success is not guaranteed." He may sound clever in citing a dialogue in the latest James Bond movie: "Sometimes the old ways are best."

    But this is not the time. The "old ways" that have been driving economic growth through asset inflation are destroying the middle class, resulting in a widening wealth gap that has become the main source of public discontent.

    Some commentators have scoffed at the frequent public demonstrations against the establishment and fierce opposition to almost any government policy proposal as nothing more than an indication that Hong Kong people love to complain. Their show of ignorance in this matter apparently is shared by many policy makers.

    The many young rebels against Tsang's "old ways" are not without a cause. They have genuine reasons to feel betrayed by market forces that are shaped by what Tsang called the "conventional economic pillars," finance, logistics and trade, tourism, and professional services. He left property out of the list. But everyone in Hong Kong knows its overbearing influence on almost every other sector of the economy.

    "The four conventional pillars have become our major economic backbone because they have the edge," Tsang wrote in his blog. "While developing new sectors, we should make more effort to expand the edge of the pillar industries."

    But for what? That is the question many frustrated Hong Kong people are asking. To be sure, the "pillars" have sustained Hong Kong's economic growth in the past several years despite a global downturn. But such growth is not seen to have brought improvement to the livelihood of a large segment of the population, or created many opportunities that can facilitate social mobility for those at the lower end of the social scale.

    For that reason, more and more economists are calling on the government to take the initiative in nurturing higher-value added manufacturing industries that can generate new opportunities for entrepreneurs and create secured and well-paying jobs for skilled workers. Of course, it takes time to establish a new industry and the risk of failure is real enough. But such considerations should not be taken as excuses of doing nothing.

    If they were, none of those "pillar" industries would have existed. Rather than being "conventional", the groundwork for the development of the financial industry, as it is today, was laid in the late 1970s by the government. Tourism didn't become a "pillar" until the government took the initiative in 2003 to make arrangements that facilitated the massive inflow of millions of mainland tourists every year. Nobody is saying that the government should abandon the pillar industries. What Hong Kong people want is for the government to at least produce a credible plan for the development of new manufacturing industries that can help balance economic growth.

    The author is a current affairs commentator.

    (HK Edition 01/10/2013 page3)

    免费无码婬片aaa直播表情| 亚洲AV无码AV男人的天堂| 人禽无码视频在线观看| 亚洲电影中文字幕| 无码日韩人妻AV一区免费l| 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃臀网站 | 无码人妻久久一区二区三区蜜桃 | 国产成人精品无码一区二区三区| 色欲狠狠躁天天躁无码中文字幕| 成人无码视频97免费| 久久无码AV一区二区三区| 2022中文字幕在线| 亚洲毛片av日韩av无码| 国产精品无码av在线播放| 亚洲色偷拍另类无码专区| 内射人妻少妇无码一本一道| 国产中文字幕在线视频| 狠狠精品久久久无码中文字幕| 亚洲中文字幕无码一久久区| 亚洲精品无码AV中文字幕电影网站| 亚洲?V无码乱码国产精品| 成人无码视频97免费| 人妻丰满熟妞av无码区| 无套内射在线无码播放| 精品无码免费专区毛片| 亚洲中文字幕无码一去台湾| 日韩人妻无码精品无码中文字幕| 最近更新2019中文字幕| 国内精品久久久人妻中文字幕 | 亚洲AV无码AV男人的天堂不卡| 激情无码人妻又粗又大中国人| 无码精品久久久天天影视| 亚洲AV无码久久精品蜜桃| 无码少妇一区二区三区| 亚洲精品无码精品mV在线观看| 亚洲av日韩av无码| 日韩免费人妻AV无码专区蜜桃| 久久久久亚洲AV无码麻豆| 久久精品无码一区二区无码| 国产精品无码无需播放器| av无码国产在线看免费网站|