EMERGING trends and new challenges facing the container shipping industry will be examined at a two-day Asia-Pacific Containerisation conference which opens at the Furama hotel today. Government officials and industry experts from Hong Kong, Britain, China, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia are among about 60 delegates taking part. The conference programme will address three major issues: The outlook for the container trade and container manufacturing industry. Growth opportunities in Asia. Managing and operating a profitable container shipping business. Speakers will include Mark Whitehead of Jardine Transport Services, John Macdonald of Hong Kong Technical College, Kenneth Kwan of Singamas Container Holdings, and Andrew Penfold of Ocean Shipping Consultants of London. Container trade in Asia is forecast to grow at 6.5 per cent per annum through to 2000. Growth has outpaced development in many Asian regions and governments have been aggressively expanding and upgrading their port facilities to cope with the growth. Hong Kong will require at least 17 new berths by 2011. China needs to double its deepwater berths to 600 by the year 2000.
