Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma says it is groundless to attribute the printing industry's unemployment problem to the Government's procurement policy.

Mr Ma today told lawmakers that owing to the increasing use of electronic means, the value of Government printing orders has dropped from about $300 million in 2002-03 to $230 million in 2004-05.

"Most of these printing orders are handled in-house by the Government Logistics Department. Outsourcing will be arranged only when the department does not have the necessary skills or machines."

3,300 printing jobs outsourced

In 2004-05, about 22% of the total value of all Government printing services was outsourced, involving 3,300 printing jobs with a total value of $50.8 million.

According to the Annual Survey of Industrial Production conducted by the Census & Statistics Department, the business receipt of the printing, publishing and allied industries in 2004 was $29.2 billion.

The value of government outsourced printing jobs accounts for only about 0.17% of the printing sector's business receipts.

"Given that outsourcing constitutes only a small proportion of the government's printing jobs and an insignificant proportion in the printing industry, any change in procurement policy is unlikely to have any significant impact on the employment situation of printing workers."

Mr Ma said the Government will consider in its procurement-policy review whether it is appropriate to stipulate a specified percentage of outsourced government printing jobs to be awarded to local printing factories to support the development of the local printing industry.