Hong Kong to focus on boosting maritime services after leader Carrie Lam admits city cannot compete with rival ports on shipping
Government eyes areas such as ship leasing and insurance, and will offer ongoing support to make city a dispute resolution centre for global industry
Hong Kong cannot compete with its shipping rivals and will turn its attention to maritime services as a way to strengthen its position as a key seaport trading centre, the city’s leader has admitted.
The government said it would focus on “high value-added maritime services” in areas such as ship leasing and insurance, and offer ongoing support to the city as a dispute resolution centre for the global industry. It would also inject HK$200 million (US$25.6 million) into the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund to boost talent in the respective sectors.
The rise of the Pearl River Delta cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen plus the focus on the region working closer together, including with Hong Kong, is forcing them all to work out how to collaborate.
Hong Kong is the world’s fifth-largest port in terms of total containers shipped, down from fourth in 2014. It lags Singapore and three mainland Chinese ports: Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo-Zhoushan. Guangzhou is not far behind. Recent government data showed container traffic declined 3.7 per cent in the first six months of 2018.