Maritime bureau aims to shore up Hong Kong's role as shipping hub
New government maritime department will provide one-stop shop focusing on shipping services in order to compete with Singapore
The Hong Kong government plans to set up an inter-departmental body to provide a one-stop shop for the maritime sector, which has steadily lost ground to Singapore as a maritime hub over the past few years.
The new maritime bureau is expected to include port development but the priority will be on promoting shipping services, such as ship management as well as brokerage, finance and insurance services.
"What we should do now is to upgrade Hong Kong to be on par with London as an international shipping service hub," lawmaker Miriam Lau Kin-yee said.
"Let's forget about attracting more containers to go through Hong Kong" especially since Shenzhen had already overtaken the city as the third-busiest port in the world last year, Lau said.
The Hong Kong government has long been criticised as inefficient in promoting the maritime industry.
More shipowners were leaving Hong Kong for Singapore because of lower taxes and ease of operations in the city state, a ship manager said.
"In Singapore, if you talk to the Maritime Port Authority, they will coordinate everything you need in various departments, [be it] tax or immigration," said Peter Cremers, the chief executive of Hong Kong-based ship manager Anglo-Eastern Group, which manages 450 vessels globally.