Hong Kong is a hub with Asia's premier physical infrastructure and location but may lack the ministerial co-ordination and industry expertise needed to capitalise on its advantages, according to a report commissioned by the Port Development Board.
The 140-page study published in September, known as the McClier report, found the fragmentation of the bureaus with policy-making responsibilities for freight and logistics created 'a number of difficulties for the development of policy'.
Moreover, when compared with leading logistics hubs in Singapore and the Netherlands, the report found a lack of understanding in the Government and most of the firms serving Hong Kong's trade transport.
'In many [Government] departments, there is only a limited understanding of modern logistics concepts such as the separate needs of time-definite and time-critical goods movement,' the report said.
In Singapore, Hong Kong's regional rival for premier gateway status, all logistics infrastructure policy and implementation, including information technology, is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Communications.
Hong Kong has one bureau for information technology and communications policy, which is not integrated with transport.
It has another public-works bureau for transport infrastructure, not integrated with transport operation and regulation, and another bureau responsible for cross-boundary road transport policy, separate from international sea and air transport.
