Wednesday, November 17, 1999

Hong Kong Serves as a Base to Explore Shipping Opportunities in Asia

Hong Kong, as the leading port and international maritime centre, is a base for the maritime community to explore shipping opportunities in Asia, particularly in the Mainland China market.

The Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Stephen Ip, said this tonight (Wednesday) when addressing the Inaugural Ceremony of the Maritime Asia Awards.

Mr Ip said,"Over the past 160 years, Hong Kong has been taking full advantage of our favourable location to serve as an entreport and as the gateway to the Mainland of China.

"Although Hong Kong is a small place, its open markets, pro-business culture, excellent communication networks and world-class financial facilities make it an ideal base in which to do business."

Mr Ip noted that Hong Kong had always been a focus for Asian shipping. He said,"After all, Hong Kong shipowners control over six per cent of world tonnage amounting to over 34 million gross tons.

"In addition, there are some 1 000 shipping related companies operating in Hong Kong which provide ship management, brokerage, finance, insurance, arbitration, legal, naval architecture and ship surveying services. Most major Protection and Indemnity Clubs have offices in Hong Kong and a hull insurance market has been established this year."

Mr Ip said a package of measures had recently been introduced to make registration under the Hong Kong Shipping Register to become more attractive, more competitive and more user friendly.

"We have reduced fees by an average of 50 per cent and introduced a simplified, but still rigorous, survey cycle that will again reduce costs whilst maintaining our reputation as a quality register. These two measures provide significant savings to shipowners in the first year of registration under the Hong Kong flag and, through lower annual tonnage charges, significant recurrent savings thereafter.

"In addition, the Hong Kong Shipping Register is supported by a strong team of qualified surveyors. The detention rate of Hong Kong ships under various port state control regimes is among the lowest in the world.

"Moreover, owners of Hong Kong ships are not required to pay any tax on profits made overseas. They are also exempted from paying any tax on profits made on cargo uplifted from Hong Kong.

"We are also seeking to conclude double taxation relief arrangements with Hong Kong's trading partners to exempt owners of Hong Kong ships from paying any freight tax levied on cargo uplifted from overseas."

Mr Ip noted that Hong Kong was the leading hub port of southern China and a trans-shipment hub port.

He said, "The port of Hong Kong is known for its speed and efficiency with an average turnaround time of 12 hours. One of the container terminals in Kwai Chung handles more than one million TEUs a year at its single berth. Those using the port of Hong Kong know very well that they get value for money."

On raising the cargo handling capacities of the Hong Kong port to meet demand in the coming years, Mr Ip said, "Construction work for Container Terminal 9 will commence early next year to provide an additional 2.6 million TEU capacity by 2004.

"Other than the terminals, we provide the option for small to medium sized ships, often engaged in intra-Asian trade, to load and upload containers more economically in mid-stream. In addition, the River Trade Terminal at Tuen Mun provides a custom-built facility to meet the needs of the growing river trade.

"The Government will continue to work closely with the Port and Maritime Board and the maritime community to enhance the business environment and to make it more attractive for shipowners to invest in Hong Kong," Mr Ip said.