What makes a business provide the best services available? Competition that threatens to steal customers.
'Competition is the only way that Hong Kong will prosper in the long run,' says David Oldridge, Tradeport Hong Kong chief executive.
'Logistics is the discipline of transportation, the value gained by bringing together what could be stand-alone components into a single cohesive system,' he says.
Hong Kong has long capitalised on its location. On numerous occasions the Airport Authority has stressed that most of Southeast Asia is accessible on a five-hour flight, giving Hong Kong an edge of two hours over its most constant rival, Singapore. But with China's accession to the World Trade Organisation, development in the Pearl River Delta, and Shanghai's remarkable growth, it has become necessary to do more.
'Whether it is on a micro or macro level, we now have to motivate customers to come here, rather than expect them to arrive because we are open for business. They have to come because we offer the best service,' Mr Oldridge says.
Singapore thus far has superior infrastructure and support facilities to Hong Kong, Mr Oldridge says. It has been swift to move with its logistics centres, and in this Hong Kong has lagged behind.
