Hong Kong can stay out of the mainland's shadow by upgrading its services
Po Chung says the city should play to its strengths rather than trying to develop hi-tech industry
Recent articles have suggested that Hong Kong is sinking into irrelevance. We've heard the arguments before; that, in order to compete with mainland China, Hong Kong must invest in, and revitalise its commitment to, research and development.
As a result of globalisation, China has consistently attracted more investment for bigger and better production lines. Like many manufacturing centres, Hong Kong suffered.
These days, companies are moving their plants to other countries in Asia, Africa and also back to the US. More recently, China has been trying to climb the value chain, from the production line to where the real profits are. So far, nothing new, so let's try another perspective.
Consider the service industry and services that are embedded in products off the production line. Starting in the 1970s, Hong Kong developed from having 65 per cent of the workforce in service jobs to 95 per cent last year; many of these are embedded services.
If manufacturing is the standard, then yes, Hong Kong has lost. But if service is the measure, then our competitiveness couldn't be stronger.
Service is less visible but it's also the source of higher-value-added transactions. This is where Hong Kong has come out far ahead in the region.
