Following is the opening address by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, at the GS1 Hong Kong Summit 2026 today (November 6):

Roy (Chairman of GS1 Hong Kong, Mr Roy Ng), Peter (Legislative Council Member Mr Shiu Ka-fai), Captain Lam (Legislative Council Member Mr Lothair Lam), Anna (Chief Executive of GS1 Hong Kong, Ms Anna Lin), 夏巡視員 (Second-level Inspector, Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Ms Xia Qing), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

     It is a pleasure to join you all at the GS1 Hong Kong Summit. First of all, to our overseas guests, a very warm welcome to Hong Kong.

     The Summit this year neatly packs the current hottest buzzwords into one focal point: DATA (Digitalisation, AI, Transparency and Assurance). Needless to say, data gives life to digitalisation and AI, making transparency and assurance indispensable in conducting business in today's digital world.

     In the realm of logistics, data itself is gaining greater importance as the world demands goods to be delivered at record-breaking speeds and hyper efficiency. Without digitalisation and AI, e-commerce could never have blossomed to the current stage. Our host today, GS1, is practically the byword for data, having pioneered data-based technologies and standard for retail and logistics over the years.

     Equally reliant on data is environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance, which has climbed corporate agendas as the EU (European Union)'s requirements for emission disclosure and the Digital Product Passport started to bite. With the world scrambling to master ESG data collection and reporting, guaranteeing the credibility of such data has become the holy grail of the entire logistics industry.

     Against this backdrop, we in the Government stands ready to help the logistics industry embrace these waves of change. In Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan as well as the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address, we have outlined very concrete and a series of actions to make this a reality. To mirror GS1's choice of its bread and butter – DATA – as the theme of today's Summit, I will use an acronym from my own line of work: C-A-R, which literally means CAR, a vehicle to carry the logistics trade to this data-powered future. I would like to make use of my 10-minute slot to elaborate a little bit more on CAR.

Data connectivity

     Let me start with the "C" – connectivity. Digitalisation has been transforming the logistics sector for the past two decades, yet widespread data silos continue to hinder supply chain transparency. I'm also aware of silos within the Government and among our entities in the transport and logistics sectors. While initial efforts have been made to bridge these gaps, truly comprehensive data connectivity remains out of reach.

     This is why we took up the challenge and launched the Port Community System, or PCS in short, which is also mentioned in the Chairman's speech just now, this year to provide one-stop, round-the-clock, real-time cargo tracking across sea, land and air. It's an attempt to bridge the silos. The transparency PCS delivers, alongside value-added services such as One-Data-Multiple-Declarations, explain the exponential growth - now nearly 10 000 corporate subscribers have joined the PCS to benefit from our service. Next, we are looking beyond logistics by exploring the immense potential of a cargo tracking data-trade finance crossover. Now finance always crossovers with different kinds of pillar industries, with logistics or maritime being the topmost. Through the CargoX Project in collaboration with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, PCS cargo data is already powering credit assessment for PCS' users across more than 20 use cases by now. Our vision is to develop PCS from a logistics data platform into a trade data platform that will attract shippers to choose Hong Kong as their transshipment hub and trading centre of choice, backed by impeccable logistics data connectivity that supports their financial needs.

Encourage AI development in the logistics industry

     Now let me turn to "A" – AI. We really need to encourage more AI developments in the logistics industry. We need to help our logistics sector, in particular the SMEs (Small and medium enterprises), to properly procure the right products, using AI to help lower their cost, achieve efficiency and reduce reliance on manpower. AI is the key concept that is deeply linked with data today. Yet a fundamental challenge of the AI era remains: how can we encourage and help SMEs embrace AI? For the logistics sector, our answer is FILAS - the Future Innovative Logistics Acceleration Scheme, our government scheme for subsidy, for dishing out money to help SMEs. 

     FILAS is a scheme designed to subsidise logistics SMEs in adopting pre-approved innovative IT onboarding solutions. These tools help them digitalise their operations and use public logistics data platforms like the PCS. Since its launch in June this year, three such solutions have been pre-approved, all of which are AI-based. This is hardly surprising as no technology can help turn paper-based information into digital assets as efficiently as AI. These pre-approved solutions leverage AI for everything from optimising shipping routes using real-time shipping data to calculating carbon emissions, among many other applications.

     The first batch of logistics SMEs have already benefitted from the scheme, and I hope this is just the start of digitalisation of the logistics industry at scale. We will monitor and keep track of the trends, demand and the effects of adoption and application, to give us more justification for ramping it up or extending the coverage of the scheme to cover even more.

Roadmap for ESG Development for logistics industry

     Lastly, let's talk about "R" – our Roadmap for ESG Development for the logistics industry. As I mentioned earlier, ESG is no longer a nice-to-have, it is a regulatory requirement in the EU with ripple effects across the entire supply chain. It is actually not very distant from us, just right at our doorstep. Our country is also gearing up and is widely expected to announce its own set of ESG disclosure standards next year, with mandatory application to cover companies of all sizes by 2030. As an economy deeply integrated into global trade, Hong Kong cannot afford to lag behind in ESG adoption. This is why we announced our first Roadmap in June last year. The aim was to particularly equip logistics SMEs with the skills to collect and report ESG data through a three-stage approach: first, getting to know the ESG principles and international ESG requirements; second, learning how to collect and record logistics ESG data; and finally, mastering ESG reporting.

     We are now two years into this three-year Roadmap. I hope you would agree with me that the Government has spared no effort in rolling out measure after measure to help logistics SMEs to embark on their ESG journey, including an online ESG resource centre, a set of ESG data collection toolkit, and free training sessions to teach SMEs how to use the toolkit. All these are very practical and down-to-earth. We are here to help the frontline staff, as SMEs usually do not have a full team – there is no ESG Director or ESG Subcommittee under the Board. In reality, we have to count on that one and only person, grooming that expert into an ESG master. Like the global ESG trend, the Roadmap also needs to evolve. With the current Roadmap expiring very soon next year, we are now preparing its review and renewal, so that it continues to serve as a guide for our trade to remain ESG compliant and hence to maintain their competitiveness in the global logistics market. Speaking of which, I would like to take a minute to thank my team, who are the forerunners in driving ESG, for their dedication and hard work.

Concluding remarks

     We in the Government lay out the policy but it takes the industry to work with us to take it forward. It is why I am glad that for years we have GS1 on our side, making incredible efforts to turn our logistics vision into reality through standard setting, advocacy and industry promotion on platforms like today's Summit. I am sure that the subsequent sessions today will involve significant advocacy and provide a lot of research pieces, which will help enrich the HKSAR Government's knowledge of the real issues behind the logistics trade's journey towards ESG, data digitalisation and AI. I note from the agenda that exciting topics like end-to-end data visibility in regional distribution and supply chain automation will be discussed. Most importantly, awards will also be given to companies with outstanding ESG commitments as incentives and means of promotion. All these echo our logistics policy imperatives, and I would like to thank GS1 for the admirable work of your tiny yet sustained secretariat that makes it all happen.

     Lastly, I wish today's Summit every success. Hope to see you all very soon, thank you.

Ends/Friday, November 6, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:23

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