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Chinese ports to complement Hong Kong
Hong Kong will continue to face substantial growth in port throughput despite the rapid development of mainland Chinese ports.
This was the assessment given by the Secretary of Hong Kong's Port Development Board, Mr Tony Clark, at the China Intermodalism Conference '96 in Singapore today (Thursday)
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Speaking on "Port development in China the implications for Hong Kong" he said that while Hong Kong would certainly lose some transhipment business to mainland ports it would continue to consolidate its position as the hub port for southern China.
He told the conference: "Hong Kong is far from complacent. Competition will increase as alternative ports open; transhipment trade to Taiwan will decline once direct trade links with the mainland are established, and cargo from northern and central China is increasingly more likely to be diverted from Hong Kong. But the fact is, that the growth in our own backyard in Guangdong Province is likely to more than replace lost cargo; indeed, Hong Kong can expect demand for container facilities to treble during the next twenty years.
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He said that there had been some criticism of Hong Kong because of its relatively high handling charges at the terminals. However, he pointed out that: "While cost is important, a primary concern of shippers and consignees is fast delivery. This is influenced most by the quality and level of service available.
"One big advantage Hong Kong has is its fast turnaround of vessels and together with frequency of calls; this provides quick and guaranteed pick-up and delivery.
"Another advantage is our large and well established shipping support operations - combined with Hong Kong's strong banking and financial institutions and familiarity with international trade practices. This ensures payment on time and fast, efficient documentation processing."
Mr Clark said out that the great majority of factories in Hong Kong's Guangdong hinterland were Hong Kong owned or financed. Their owners maintained their administrative headquarters in the territory and preferred to use Hong Kong banks and business institutions for their transactions.