LC Motion of Thanks - Speech by SES (English translation)

Following is a speech by the Secretary for Economic Services, Ms Sandra Lee, in the Legislative Council (LegCo). An abridged version was delivered in the LegCo yesterday (October 17):

Madam President,

I wish to thank all the Members who have spoken on Hong Kong's economic situation and in particular on the topics of logistics and tourism. I have listened carefully and with interest. I will consider Members' views and suggestions carefully. I am just as concerned as Members are, about the economic situation in Hong Kong. And that reminds me of an article I read last night entitled "The uses of adversity : how to survive the downturn". And let me quote a line. It says "Downturns provide opportunities as well as hazards. Recessions do not last forever ... It is in the early stages of an upturn that fortunes are most easily made. This is the time when companies should be preparing themselves to grasp the upturn when it comes." At this difficult time, let us not lose sight of our fundamental economic strength, and let us work together to prepare for the moment of upturn, to regain, or indeed, multiply our fortune.

As we all know, the movement of people and goods are pillars to our economic development. And, the cornerstones for these pillars are, first, our extensive network of air services which together with our world class airport, connects Hong Kong with some 130 cities and secondly, our vibrant maritime community and our efficient container port which has shipping links to over 500 destinations around the world.

We are firmly committed to building on these strong fundamentals and our achievements and more importantly, to add value to them without delay. On air services, we shall continue with bold and progressive steps to liberalise the market : we shall extend our service network and provide more rights for airlines to expand services for passengers and cargo, and cargo in particular. In parallel, the Hong Kong Airport Authority has identified and will embark on development plans that will take our airport well into the next two decades. On shipping services, our maritime community and container operators will take steps to enhance the productivity of our port, which, with a capability of handling 28 to 40 moves per crane per hour, is the most efficient in the world.

Let us remind ourselves, that through years of hard work and with enterprising spirit, we have made Hong Kong a major hub port in the global supply chain, served by over 80 international shipping lines with 380 container line services per week and as I said earlier, to over 500 destinations in the world. There are some 2,700 freight forwarding companies in Hong Kong servicing shippers/consignees on different routings. Over 216,000 vessels visited our port in 2000. As a major international shipping centre, Hong Kong based shipowners manager over 6% of the world fleet creating a major focal point for world maritime commerce. By the end of this year, the Hong Kong Shipping Register is expected to reach 13 million gross registered tonnes.

Added to these are our efficient and reliable financial, insurance and other related services. We will capitalise on these strengths and develop Hong Kong into an international and regional transportation and logistics hub, to add value to our port and airport and all their related services.

Logistics

At the last motion debate before this Council's summer recess, on 12 July, Honourable Members called upon the Administration to "speed up the development of our logistics industries". In my response then, I said the Administration shared this common objective with Honourable Members. In the past three months, my colleagues and I have worked hard on what we call the "Logistics Hong Kong" initiatives. Let me outline these initiatives which are characterised as the "4 Ls" -

(i) P-logistics : we are committed to strengthening the infrastructural and inter-modal transportation links under the demand and supply chain that operates through Hong Kong. We will consider taking forward the other physical infrastructure recommended in the "Study to Strength the Hong Kong's Role as the Preferred International and Regional Transportation and Logistics Hub" (IRTLH), which includes the creation of value-added logistics park, the establishment of an intra-Asia integrator hub and the establishment of "logistics pipelines". We will also examine how the development of these facilities could be co-ordinated with those infrastructure projects which are being implemented/under consideration to enhance the connectivity of cargo flow between Mainland China, particular the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong. These projects include, on land transport, the Route 9 which will connect CT8 with CT9 through the Stonecutter Bridge and the Shenzhen Western Corridor, which will be our fourth land boundary crossing. On the marine side, the Marine Cargo Terminal at the Hong Kong International Airport will provide an alternative and efficient means of transport of air cargo between the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong International Airport using river trade vessels thus enhancing the inter-model connectivity of the port. On the railway side, the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation is studying the Port Rail Line jointly with its Mainland business counterparts. The concept of a port rail line is to provide a direct rail connection to the port.

(ii) E-logistics : The consultant of the IRTLH study has pointed out that "digital divide" amongst service providers hinders the development of Hong Kong's role as a coordination and integration of service providers under the demand and supply chain that operates through or from Hong Kong. To this end, we plan to work with the private sector to develop a common information technology (IT) architecture within which all parties can develop systems components linking through defined interfaces. This will facilitate extension of the catchment area of "virtual logistics".

(iii) H-logistics : Our current human resource base was developed under a "modal approach". We need to develop programmes to encourage our logistics community to embrace modern concepts of logistics, demand supply chain and e-commerce. Economic Services Bureau (ESB) and Education and Manpower Bureau will collaborate with stakeholders to develop a more integrated manpower development programme to support "Logistics Hong Kong". We will organise a forum in November this year to facilitate discussion amongst stakeholders to develop a human resources development plan for the industry.

(iv) M-logistics : we will continue our effort to develop marketing synergies amongst the promotional programmes of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board, Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Invest Hong Kong so as to create a more effective promotional campaign for "Logistics Hong Kong". Next year, we plan to support a number of international conferences to promote "Logistics Hong Kong". An overseas roadshow for "Logistics Hong Kong" is also being planned.

Regulatory Infrastructure : the Administration will spearhead the initiatives to improve and expedite customs and immigration clearance. A number of projects are being planned/developed by the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) aiming at paperless customs procedures, for the lodgement of trade declarations and application for customs documents. Our target is to provide speedy customs clearing services to all modes of cross-boundary cargo flows through the inter-linking of electronic systems. In order to enhance customs clearance efficiency in road boundary control points, C&ED is studying an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) System for Road Manifest (ROMAN). To pave way for the implementation of the ROMAN system, C&ED has already launched the Land Cargo Advance Clearance Scheme last year and will implement the Automatic Vehicle Recognition System in March next year so as to reduce the time involved in customs clearance and to increase the capacity of boundary control points. We will also examine ways to enhance the efficiency and to streamline the customs clearance procedures between Hong Kong and the Mainland under the one country two systems principle.

Support for SMEs (small and medium enterprises): ESB and Commerce and Industry Bureau will collaborate to review how assistance to SMEs can be strengthened so as to encourage them to embrace the concepts and practices of 4 "L"s. We will organise a forum in December this year to facilitate discussion amongst stakeholders to develop initiatives to assist SMEs to participate in the logistics business.

To spearhead these initiatives, the Financial Secretary will chair the "Steering Committee on Logistics Development" (LOGSCOM) and he will appoint official and non-official members to a new "Logistic Development Board" (LDB).

Thank you.