21. Apart from the four pillar industries, the six industries are crucial to the development of our economy. At present, the private sector part of these six industries directly contributes about 7% to 8% of GDP, and employs around 350 000 workers, or about 10% of the total workforce. With appropriate policies to remove obstacles to their development, the six industries will enter a new phase of development, propelling Hong Kong towards a knowledge-based economy.
Optimising Land Use
22. Over the years, the Government's role in economic development has mainly been setting market rules, creating a fair and open environment, and providing suitable human resources, with the aim of optimising the use of limited resources in society. Now that the economy is restructuring, the Government has the responsibility to examine whether the existing use of resources can support the new economic structure, and to prevent the factors of production from being tied up by outdated policies and economic structure.
23. The community widely supports the development of the six industries, and has clearly reflected to the Government that land resources are crucial to their development. Meanwhile, there have been calls for realising the potential of old industrial buildings. Due to the constraints of the existing systems and policies, these valuable resources have not been fully utilised.