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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kam-lam and a reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (December 7):
Question:
A local consortium sold part of its interest in the local container terminal business to the Port of Singapore Authority in July this year, and invested more than HK$10 billion last month in expanding the container terminals at Yantian port in Shenzhen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has contacted the consortium to find out the reasons for its divestment of the local container terminal business;
(b) whether it has assessed the impacts of the northerly relocation of business by Hong Kong businessmen on the economic outlook of Hong Kong, if it has, of the outcome of the assessment; and
(c) of the measures to maintain the competitiveness of Hong Kong's port business?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) All the container terminals in Hong Kong are owned and operated by the private sector. As the transfer of company shares by the container terminal operator is purely a commercial decision, the Government would not take any intervention action.
(b) We completed a strategic planning study on the 20-year development of our port – the "Hong Kong Port – Master Plan 2020 Study" (HKP2020) at the end of 2004. The study took into account a series of factors affecting port development in Hong Kong, including growth in external trade in the South China region; the development and expansion plans of Hong Kong's neighbouring ports; and the competitiveness of our port, etc. The study recommended that Hong Kong should enhance its port competitiveness; strengthen the connectivity with the Mainland; and reduce the overall transportation costs in order to maintain our hub port position.
(c) In the light of the rapid development of our neighbouring ports, Hong Kong needs to grasp the emerging business opportunities in the Pearl River Delta region, and maintain our position as the leading trading and logistics hub. In this connection, the Government has consulted the industry on the recommendations of the HKP2020 study and has taken forward a number of measures to enhance Hong Kong's port competitiveness. Progress of these measures is summarised below:
(i) Trucking cost – Following our discussion with the Guangdong Provincial authorities, the "4-up-4-down" rule and "1-truck-1-driver" rule have been relaxed, and the validity period of licenses for operating cross-boundary trucking business has been extended from three to six years. The Guangdong Provincial authorities have also agreed to extend customs operating hours according to the cargo volume and practical needs of different regions. We hope that the above relaxations will enhance the efficiency of the trucking industry and lower the transportation cost.
(ii) Port fees and charges – The Government will streamline the port operation procedures, reduce port fees and charges, and increase the mid-stream cargo handling capacity through establishing more service anchorages, with a view to attracting more river and transshipment cargoes to Hong Kong. We have consulted the LegCo Panel on Economic Services regarding these measures and obtained the Panel's support. We gazetted three pieces of subsidiary legislation for fees reduction and establishment of service anchorages on November 18. These measures will be implemented in early 2006 on completion of the necessary legislative procedures. When these measures are implemented, a medium sized vessel calling Hong Kong for two days can save 25% anchorage charge, whilst a river trade vessel using the multiple entry permits can save up to 50% of the cost on entry permit.
(iii) Terminal handling charge (THC) – We will continue to facilitate dialogues among relevant parties to enhance the transparency of THC and its charging mechanism.
(iv) Enhancing port productivity – After consulting the industry and with the support of the Port Development Council, suitable container terminal back-up land will be made available to meet port operational needs. The first two barging facilities will be put up for open tender in early 2006.
(v) Improvement to transport infrastructure – To facilitate the flow of goods across the boundary, a new bridge connecting Lok Ma Chau and Huanggang dedicated for goods vehicles has been in operation since January 2005, and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor will be opened in mid-2006. In addition, the Stonecutters Bridge connecting Container Terminal 9 with other terminals in Kwai Chung will be completed by 2008.
(vi) On overall infrastructure planning – We will follow the recommendations of the HKP2020 Study to conduct an ecology study on northwest Lantau to assess its environmental suitability for the development of Container Terminal 10, and a port cargo forecast study to determine the optimal timing for the construction of the terminal. Both studies are scheduled to commence by the end of this year. We will review the port expansion options when more data are available.
(vii) Strengthening Hong Kong as the prime logistics information centre – The Digital Trade Transportation Network (DTTN) to be launched soon will provide an open, neutral, secure and reasonably priced e-platform to facilitate information flow along the supply chain in an efficient and reliable manner. The DTTN System will:
- improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the logistics industry as savings in terms of reduction in paperwork and removal of the need for data re-entry can be realised;
- promote the adoption of information technology and e-commerce, especially amongst the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs);
- encourage the logistics industry to provide high quality, reliable and high efficiency services to enhance their competitiveness in the market; and
- facilitate the logistics industry to meet international trade requirements.
Madam President, we believe that the above measures will enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of our port to meet the challenges facing Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:04
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