Tradeport partners combine their strengths in bid to turn Hong Kong into Asian logistics hub

Mainland China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will help Hong Kong develop into an Asian logistics hub, particularly in the airfreight business, Jardine Logistics president Vincent Wong says.

He notes that Boeing has predicted the airfreight industry globally was expected to grow at 6.3 per cent per annum over the next 20 years, thrice the speed of passenger traffic growth.

'Changes in the supply chain are going to create substantial growth in airfreight,' he said.

In anticipation of the huge increase in the high-end air cargo business, Jardine Logistics and others have formed the Tradeport Hong Kong Consortium to bid for the Hong Kong airport logistics centre project planned by the Airport Authority.

Other consortium members include Hongkong Land, China National Aviation Co (CNAC), Frankfurt Airport and the Schiphol Group, which have a combined net worth of about HK$56 billion.

A decision on the winning bid is expected to be made by January. 'We have a strong consortium that can provide everything in-house to make the facility a success,' Mr Wong said, adding that the consortium partners had an existing customer base from the United States, Europe and Asia.