Hong Kong  - Hong Kong might speed up infrastructure projects to boost employment as the economic downturn costs the city thousands of jobs, the territory's deputy leader said Friday.

The announcement came a day after 4,000 Hong Kong construction workers found they were among 11,000 staff who would lose their jobs as casino building works are halted in neighbouring Macau.

The massive lay-off was caused when the Las Vegas Sands suspended work on four major hotels for up to six months. About 7,000 workers from Macau and mainland China have also lost their jobs.

Responding to news of the job losses, Hong Kong Chief Secretary Henry Tang said Friday that Macau was a "victim of the global financial tsunami."

"We are going to do everything we can to review the major infrastructural projects [to see] whether there is any room for speeding up those projects," Tang said. "You can be assured that we will do everything we can to look at speeding up any of those projects whenever possible."

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang earlier this year announced a series of multimillion-US-dollar infrastructure projects, including bridges and road links between Hong Kong and southern China.

Hong Kong has been badly hit by the global economic slump with property prices sliding and stocks losing more than 50 per cent of their value since the beginning of the year. (dpa)