GREATER BAY AREA
All for one Beijing is forging closer links between Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong Province. Local shipping firms are delighted
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peak to anyone in maritime or logistics in Hong Kong about future potential and invariably the Greater Bay Area (GBA) comes up in conversation. First conceived in 2017, the concept is up there with the Belt Road Initiative in terms of mega, overarching economic plans laid out during the tenure of Xi Jinping as leader of China. In a way it harks back to previous Communist times, what Deng Xiaoping called: “Crossing the river by feeling the stones” - a way of bridging divides for greater, mutual strength long-term. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area comprises the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province. The total area is around 56,000 sq km, population 86m and the combined GDP last year stood at $1.68trn, bigger than many G20 economies. The objectives are to further deepen cooperation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, fully leverage the composite advantages of the three places,
facilitate in-depth integration within the region, and promote coordinated regional economic development. Many in Hong Kong’s shipping community have embraced this new political directive, setting up offices across the border in Guangdong. Hing Chao, chairman of shipowner Wah Kwong, has a fast growing shipmanagement division based in Shenzhen. He tells Splash he sees Hong Kong acting as a “super-connector” between China and the world with the SAR’s service and knowledge base leading maritime development across the GBA. Similarly bullish is Angad Banga, the chief operating officer of the Caravel Group. “With the GBA’s focus on logistics and shipping, Hong Kong will gain exposure to a whole new world of opportunities that will enable further development of specialised services such as marine insurance and ship finance,” Banga tells Splash. Carrie Lam’s final address this term as chief executive this October clearly
outlined the government’s desire to boost Hong Kong’s status as an international transportation centre with plans underway to build a “smart port” and promote wider application of digital technology in maritime and port operations. “At this point, shipping and technology really go hand-in-hand,” Banga says, “so the fact that there are plans to develop a mega IT hub neighbouring Shenzhen - already a global innovation hub - should bring immense benefits of cross-border collaboration and R&D which will hopefully feed into the ongoing digitalisation and transformation of the maritime sector.” With decarbonisation arguably at the top of the agenda for shipping right now, the Guangzhou Futures Exchange has formally kicked off the process of developing emissions derivative products, putting a pricing mechanism into place to help steer China towards its goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2060. The government has already said it wants to support cooperation between the Hong
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