Tuesday November 10, 1998

SES, Port and Maritime Board Visit Beijing

The Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Stephen Ip, and members of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board today (Tuesday) depart for a 3-day visit to Beijing. They will meet with the Minister of Communications of the People's Republic of China, Mr Huang Zhendong, and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and will also visit the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO).

Mr Ip said, "The purpose of our visit is to strengthen communication between Hong Kong and the Mainland shipping industries, develop opportunities for co-operation and exchange views on issues of common concern.

"We will take the opportunity to brief the Ministry of Communications and the Mainland shipping industry the objectives and work of the newly established Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board, and the initiatives we have taken recently in promoting the Hong Kong shipping industry, including lowering the cost of ship registration, simplifying ship inspection procedures, and discussion with overseas jurisdictions on reciprocal tax exemptions for shipping companies with the view to reducing the overseas tax burden of Hong Kong shipping companies and improving their international competitiveness."

Mr Ip said, "We hope to publicise the ship management, financing, legal and arbitration services available in Hong Kong and to encourage more Mainland shipping companies to use Hong Kong as a base to register and manage their ships here, which will help to strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international shipping centre."

"On the port development side, we would like to discuss with the Mainland authorities co-operation and co-ordination in long term port planning between Hong Kong and the Mainland, in particular in the South China region ," Mr Ip added.

The delegation leaves for Beijing this morning and will return to Hong Kong on Thursday (November 12).