Federal Express (FedEx), the world's largest overnight delivery company, is urging the Government to create separate regulations for air cargo, setting it apart from the passenger air traffic industry. 'Hong Kong's one of the greatest business cities in the world,' said Michael Ducker, the company's Asia-Pacific president. 'If the cargo-container industry were as tightly regulated as the air industry is now, there is no way we would have seen the development of such a huge container terminal industry here,' Mr Ducker said. He said the argument for liberalisation of air cargo was relevant because ultimately it would help spur the development of Hong Kong's burgeoning high-technology economy. 'We advocate free trade. More than 50 per cent of the value of world trade is now moving on airplanes and these are the high-value goods,' Mr Ducker said. 'More and more multinational corporations are moving into this region; the time to market for goods and the speed at which economies are changing; these are important factors to consider.' In the past paper documents and letters dominated express cargo, but the advent of electronic communications has eliminated much of this paper traffic. 'But there are critical parts inside these machines still that need to be moved,' Mr Ducker said. Another argument for a separate regulatory regime for air cargo lies in the different travel characteristics between passengers and cargo. Air routes and frequencies between countries are typically governed by bi-lateral agreements negotiated by the two governments. On flights which go beyond those two countries, so-called fifth and sixth freedom arrangements come into play, which are complex and typically politically driven in nature. AVIATION
