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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board:

The Shipping Committee under the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board held its first meeting today (Monday) to consider proposals for promoting Hong Kong as an international shipping centre.

The Shipping Committee is set up under the Port and Maritime Board to advise the Government on supporting the Hong Kong shipping industry and promoting Hong Kong as an international shipping centre. It is chaired by Mr Frank Tsao, an experienced Hong Kong shipowner.

At its meeting today, the Shipping Committee agreed to undertake a detailed study to review the development of the Hong Kong shipping industry, identify its potential and formulate a comprehensive strategy to build up Hong Kong's position as an international shipping centre for the region.

The Committee also agreed to look into, as a matter of priority, actions to further increase the competitiveness of the Hong Kong shipping industry, including shipping taxation, manpower training, international promotion, and research and information gathering.

"Hong Kong has long been a centre of shipping business in Asia and Hong Kong shipowners control some six per cent of the merchant ships in the world, ranking fifth after Greece, Japan, Norway and the US," Mr Frank Tsao, Chairman of the Shipping Committee said after the meeting.

"To build on this strength and promote the synergy between our very successful port and equally successful shipping industry, the Shipping Committee's top priority is to promote to the international shipping community the excellent support services provided by Hong Kong such as ship management, ship finance, arbitration and insurance, and to attract the international shipping companies to set up operations in Hong Kong.

"This will help to support our economy and provide more employment opportunities to Hong Kong people," he said.

The former Port Development Board was reorganised and renamed the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board on June 1 1998 by the Government to take on the additional task of promoting the Hong Kong shipping industry and developing Hong Kong into an international shipping centre.

Today over 1,200 vessels with a gross tonnage of 31 million tonnes are owned or managed in Hong Kong by more than 70 companies. The autonomous Hong Kong Shipping Register, established in 1990, now has some 480 ships of over 6 million gross tonnes flying the flag.

End/Monday, August 10, 1998

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