22 May, 2001 (Tuesday)

A delegation of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board (PMB) had just completed a visit programme to Europe to promote Hong Kong as a leading port and a major international maritime centre in the Asia-pacific region.

The PMB delegation, comprising representatives from both Government and private sectors, was led by the Secretary for Economic Services, Ms Sandra Lee and PMB Chairman, Sir Gordon Wu.

Sir Gordon Wu pointed out that with China's imminent entry to WTO, Hong Kong's role as the gateway to Mainland China would provide more business opportunities for Hong Kong.

"Forty per cent of China's trade at present passes through Hong Kong. With China's accession to WTO, we believe it will bring more trade and investments to the area. At present, about 100 out of the 400-plus foreign invested freight forwarders in the Mainland China are from Hong Kong," Sir Gordon said.

The Secretary for Economic Services, Ms Sandra Lee, said, "With the expected escalation in trade volume and the liberalisation of the distribution and logistics sector, Hong Kong's service providers will be able to upgrade their supply chain management services to their clients. Hong Kong can offer the 'total logistics solution' for trade and transportation with China, especially the Pearl River Delta area which is Hong Kong's main cargo base."

"With our efficient and comprehensive port services and proximity to our cargo hinterland in Mainland China, Hong Kong has ranked the world's Number 1 container port for eight years since 1991. Hong Kong continued to hold the title in 2000, handling a record throughput of 18.1 million TEUs. The recently updated Port Cargo Forecasts predict that Hong Kong's container throughput is to grow to 30 million TEUs in 2010 and the port of Hong Kong is conducting a Port Development Strategy Review to map out the strategy to prepare the port to meet its future challenges," Ms Lee said.

Other members of the delegation include the Chairman of PMB's Shipping Committee, Mr Frank Tsao; Shipping Committee member, Mr Liang Ming-hang; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association, Mr Andrew Chen; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association, Mr Eric Ip; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, Mr Jim Poon; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council, Mr Willy Lin; Director of Marine, Mr Tsui Shung-yiu; and the Secretary of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board, Mr Alex Fong.

During the trip, the delegation hosted five seminars to update European port and maritime communities on recent developments in Hong Kong. At the seminars, the delegation highlighted Hong Kong as a "can do port", emphasizing the connectivity through integrated transportation and logistics network between the port of Hong Kong and its cargo source in the Pearl River Delta region, and the quality services, reliability and flexibility offered by the port of Hong Kong.

The delegation had met with senior management of port authorities to exchange views on co-operation between port authorities to provide better services to users of ports.

The delegation also put across the message to the maritime communities, including ship owners and major shipping companies in Europe on Hong Kong as the "can do maritime centre". They pointed out that Hong Kong had highly concentrated clusters of maritime services providers, making it the ideal regional base for shipowning, ship management, ship finance, ship insurance and ship broking activities.

The delegation told the maritime communities that Hong Kong based shipowners managed over 34 million tonnes, or over 6 per cent, of the world fleet and the gross registered tonnage on the Hong Kong Shipping Register had exceeded 11.3 million in March 2001. The delegation also assured them that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was committed to supporting the shipping and maritime industry, by encouraging its development, facilitating its operation and promoting the synergy between the port and shipping related industry.

During the trip, in addition to meeting with shippers and shipowners, the delegation also visited a number of major ports and shipping centres, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Basel, Hamburg, Antwerp, Oslo, Copenhagen and London.