Hong Kong plans statutory maritime body to research and develop port

    HONG KONG is planning to set up a new maritime statutory body dedicated to the shipping industry, says Transport Secretary Anthony Cheung though it is estimated to come about in three to five years, reported Lloyd's List.

　　"What needs to be done now is to work out the actual organisational set-up, how we are going to finance it, and how this new body will interact with various industry stakeholders," he told Lloyd's List.

　　The city's Transport and Housing Bureau is conducting an internal feasibility study and is expected to reach firm ideas by the end of this year, he said.

　　The proposal to set up a new statutory body was first put forward in a consultancy report commissioned by the government two years ago and released to the public in April.

　　This is needed to formulate policy, do research, marketing and promotion, manpower training and communications and would be funded by the Hong Kong Shipping Register, the fourth-largest after Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands.

　　The BMT report estimates it may take three to five years, including time required for legislation, for the new body to come into being.

　　In terms of direct economic contribution, the maritime sector generated roughly US$9 billion or 2.1 per cent, of Hong Kong's GDP in 2010. But rival Singapore port more than doubled that.