Hong Kong in need of maritime secretary

The Hong Kong government should appoint a shipping minister to bolster the interests of Hong Kong's maritime community and counter the mounting threat posed by cities such as Singapore and Shanghai, according to George Chao, chairman of Wah Kwong Shipping Holdings, the South China Morning Post reported.

"Hong Kong is waiting to be attacked," George Chao, chairman of Wah Kwong Shipping Holdings, told the South China Morning Post.

Chao said an alternative to appointing a shipping minister would be for the government to upgrade the Marine Department into a separate policy bureau.

He pointed out that Singapore and Shanghai were "doing everything" to develop their maritime sectors but, by comparison, the Hong Kong government was "at most passive rather than active".

Several maritime companies have recently moved from Hong Kong to Singapore, partly in response to financial and tax incentives offered to the shipping industry.

Chao recently met Chief Executive Donald Tsang and gave him a letter outlining his proposals, but Chao said a concrete response was unlikely while Tsang was preoccupied with electoral reform issues. In a discussion between the two men, Chao said, Tsang had pledged to help improve relations between the government and the maritime sector.

Shipping and maritime affairs come under the Transport and Housing Bureau headed by Eva Cheng. The bureau confirmed the chief executive's office was considering Chao's proposals but had not yet responded.

Chao said the bureau was too large, and as a result the maritime sector was being overlooked, despite its massive size. Hong Kong-based companies own, manage or operate about eight percent of the world's merchant fleet of about 54,000 ships.

Government figures show the maritime industry contributed 1.8 percent to Hong Kong's gross domestic product and employed 2.4 percent of its workforce in 2008.

Hong Kong's shipping register is about the fifth-largest in the world, with around 1,625 ships. These include ultra-large container ships, massive oil tankers and cargo vessels carrying bulk materials such as iron ore and coal.

Chao said part of the problem was that officials tasked with overseeing the maritime and logistics sector in the Transport and Housing Bureau "never stay in the job long enough". Their tenure is about three years before they are transferred.

"There is no continuity," he said. Just as senior officials gain enough experience of the maritime sector they move on. "I do not think their heart is in it, which is why I want a separate minister or bureau."

He said the Maritime Industry Council, set up by the government in 2003 to have officials and industry players discuss and propose initiatives to boost competitiveness, had proved ineffective, with the industry's views largely being ignored. This lack of support prompted Chao's resignation as a council member.

The Hong Kong Shipowners' Association, whose more than 200 members represent ship owners, ship managers, marine equipment and other related companies, has thrown its weight behind Chao's plan.

Association managing director Arthur Bowring said: "We support what he is saying."

While the association backed the creation of a shipping minister, the Marine Department "should be a policy bureau" rather than a department under the Transport and Housing Bureau, he said.

A bureau spokesman said: "We are committed to doing whatever is conducive to maintaining Hong Kong's status as an international maritime centre."
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)