GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES
How to climb the ranks Splash canvassed the local maritime community about what they’d like to see the government do to grow Hong Kong maritime. Plenty of opinions flowed in
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arrie Lam (pictured) gave her final policy address of her first term as chief executive of Hong Kong in October. As Lam’s first term comes to an end with it looking likely she will seek reelection again in March, it is clear that she has done more than most leaders post-reunification to listen to the maritime community and enact legislation to encourage maritime development. Arguably her greatest maritime legacy will be in strengthening the city as a preeminent base for ship leasing via generous tax perks. Similar favourable tax treatment has been dished out to marine insurers with shipmanagers, shipbrokers and ship agents all likely to get lower bills from the taxman too in the coming 12 months. “The government is committed to enhancing the competitiveness and vibrancy of the Hong Kong economy,” insists Benjamin Wong, head of the maritime cluster at Invest Hong Kong, the government department responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign investment. “We will strive to maintain our competitive advantages, and at the same
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To truly create a thriving marine cluster, the government needs to engage everyone
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time step up investment in infrastructure, and innovation and technology in order to add growth impetus to our development.” Nevertheless, there is a huge amount the local maritime community would like the government to do in order to grow the Special Administrative Region (SAR) as an international maritime centre. It is worth noting that while Hong Kong has surpassed Shanghai in terms of the number of shipmanagement companies, the number of branches of top 100 container companies and bulk cargo companies are significantly outnumbered by Singapore’s and Shanghai’s. “The Hong Kong government should follow in the Singaporean government’s footsteps and implement incentive policies to create favourable conditions
for attracting shipping resources into the region, and launch practical initiatives to facilitate the future development of maritime and port services,” urges Damien Laracy from law firm Hill Dickinson. Angad Banga, chief operating officer at the Caravel Group, says it is vital that every strand of the maritime ecosystem is marketed to by Hong Kong authorities. “To truly create a thriving marine cluster, the government needs to engage everyone from the cargo owners to the shipowners, service providers, financiers, and so on, and extend their support and investment in a holistic way given the interdependent relationships within the ecosystem,” Banga says.
Top of the wish list ∙ More double taxation agreements ∙ Establishment of a dedicated shipping body within government ∙ Offer more maritime courses at universities ∙ Map out a coherent long-term maritime hub strategy
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