Hong Kong-China trade has been growing at 18 per cent a year, with roughly 90 per cent of southern China cargo passing through Hong Kong, said Peter Thompsonn (left), Chairman, Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board, at the Chamber’s Nov. 23 roundtable luncheon.

Between 1978 and 1988, Hong Kong’s container throughput quadrupled, while in the past decade it has trebled, totalling 14.6 million TEUs in 1998, he said.

"The Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board now forecasts a 4.6 per cent annual growth during the next decade, which will constitute an average increase on 1 million containers a year," he said

To handle this growth, two new mid-stream depots were opened in 1998. The Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal has the capacity to handle the 17.5 per cent projected growth in the river trade, Mr Thompson said.

The major project underway is a $10 billion dollar development which covers 140 hectares of reclamation and will create a six-berth terminal capable of handling more than 2.6 million TEUs per annum.

The first birth is expected to come on stream in 2002, and will be fully operational by 2005, he said. "This terminal, when combined with berth rationalisation at the existing Kwai Chung Port, will provide enough capacity for the next decade," Mr Thompson said.

In addition to expanding facilities, the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board has devoted a lot of energy to improving the flow of cargo from the Pearl River Delta to Kwai Chung, he added.

These efforts include expanding the number of kiosks from 14 to 24 at Lok Ma Chau, empty container lanes with fast customs checks, and the board is also discussing with mainland authorities to increase computerisation of their boundary procedures, he said.

In April this year, the board instituted a package of measures to make the Hong Kong Shipping Register more competitive and user friendly. These covered a substantial reduction in the cost of registration and simplified the registration procedures while maintaining the highest standard.

"These measures provide significant cost savings to the shipowner in the first year of registration and, through lower annual tonnage charges, major recurrent savings thereafter," he said.

This has attracted about 20 per cent growth in tonnage since April, with the total number of ships on the register standing at 495, or 7.6 million gross registered tons.

China’s accession to the WTO will mean an increase in south China cargo moving through Hong Kong, but to ensure shipowners continue to use the territory as their port of regional operations, more must be done to promote the advantages of Hong Kong.

To accomplish just that, a sub-committee called Container Port Competitiveness was recently set up under the Port Development Committee.

Because Hong Kong has not raised its prices for a number of years, price comparisons between Hong Kong’s port services and those of the mainland are minimal. However, just being cheaper is not enough, said those attending the roundtable.

Hong Kong must do something actively to promote itself, they said, and spell out in black and white where Hong Kong’s clear advantages lie. This is necessary to convince shipowners to use Hong Kong.