Page 55 - Demo

Figure 36 showed that while the GDP contributed by the trading and logistic sector had grown by 51% from HKD 377 billion to HKD 571 billion from 2009 to 2018, the industrial built-up land recorded only a modest increase of 8%, with much of the increase attributed to the expansion of brownfields. To catch up with the growth in value-added of the industry, a rough estimate is that there should be an additional 1,300 hectares of industrial land to support a now much bigger industry. One might argue that the actual shortfall could be less as the land efficiency should have increased over the period. However, even half of that figure would mean a deficit of 650 hectares, tripling the size of the three existing industrial estates combined.To make matters worse, the Government is in the process of reapportioning brownfields for residential development. It is expected that around 390 hectares of brownfields will be gradually phased out by 2030, so the shortfall of industrial land will likely increase.We understand that in Hong Kong, industrial land is not used exclusively by the trading and logistics business, but accommodates other users like manufacturers. However, since these other activities are relatively minor, we would use industrial land as a proxy of the economic ancillary land for the trading and logistics sector to illustrate a certain phenomenon.53