University study urges urgent aid for logistics industry

The Government has been urged to provide immediate assistance to the private sector in developing the logistics industry, or risk losing further ground to Singapore.

It has been asked to provide incentives in the form of land grants or concessions for the early-stage development of logistics centres, as well as tax incentives for research and development.

Leading the call, Edward Chen Kwan-yiu, president of Lingnan University, said: 'Land is too expensive in Hong Kong. It is hindering the development of the logistics industry.' His comments follow release of a report yesterday by Lingnan University that recommends the Government put more resources into the provision of education and training related to the logistics industry.

The study, 'Economic Impacts of Logistics Centre Development in Hong Kong', was submitted to the Government by the university and two local companies, LC Surveyors and Kerry Logistics.

The logistics industry constitutes more than 10 per cent of GDP in Hong Kong and employs a workforce of about 80,000 people, according to the report's authors. However, Hong Kong lags more than 10 years behind Singapore in terms of logistics development.

Singapore is Asia's leading logistics hub, with more than 30 third-party logistics firms providing integrated, information technology-linked logistics networks for supply-chain management.

The study found that investment of HK$4.7 billion a year on average in the next five years is needed for the development of third-party logistics services to make Hong Kong able to catch up with other logistics hubs.