Wednesday, 15 September 1999

SES, Port and Maritime Board on Promotional Trip

The Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Stephen Ip, and members of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board today (Wednesday) depart for a promotional trip to the US and Europe to highlight the attractions of the Hong Kong Shipping Register and Hong Kong as an international shipping centre.

Mr Ip said, "The delegation will visit four major port and shipping centres, namely New York, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and London."

"We will be meeting Government officials, port authorities and key shipping figures to market Hong Kong's attraction as an international shipping centre and as a shipping registry."

Mr Ip said, "Hong Kong is home to some 1,000 shipping related companies which own or manage over 1,100 vessels plying around the world. Hong Kong shipowners are significant players in the international shipping sector. In terms of tonnage, they control some six per cent of the merchant ships in the world, ranking fifth after Greece, Japan, Norway and the US."

"We will take the opportunity to tell the world the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board (PMB)'s commitment to promote Hong Kong as an international shipping centre, and the initiatives we have taken to sharpen Hong Kong's competitive edge."

"Measures taken included lowering the cost of ship registration, simplifying ship inspection procedures, and discussion with overseas jurisdictions on reciprocal tax exemptions for shipping companies with a 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 excellent supporting services available to shipowners in Hong Kong, such as finance, insurance, telecommunications, maritime law, and arbitration services and ship management. We want to encourage more shipping companies to use Hong Kong as a base to register and manage their ships, which will help to strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international shipping centre."

In London, the delegation will attend the Ship Registers Conference organised by the Lloyd's List and Mr Ip will be speaking on the benefits of having ships registered in Hong Kong.

Members of the delegation included the Chairman of the PMB Shipping Committee, Mr Frank Tsao; Chairman of the PMB Shipping Register Subcommittee, Mr Liang Ming-hang; Mrs Miriam Lau; the Director of Marine, Mr Tsui Shung-yiu; and the PMB Deputy Secretary, Mr Roger Tupper.