HK Maintains Leading Position in Sea, Air TransportHong Kong has maintained its position as a leading sea and air transport and logistics hub in the world, with its world's busiest container port and air-cargo terminal.The transport and logistics industry is vital to Hong Kong's economic growth and has been its "lifeblood" for over a century and a half, Sandra Lee, Hong Kong's Secretary for Economic Services, said Monday while addressing a summit on transport and logistics. To highlight the role of transport and logistics in Hong Kong's future development, Hong Kong's Commission on Strategic Development has identified the industry as one of the seven key areas essential to Hong Kong's long-term vision, Lee said. Hong Kong's container port is the busiest in the world, according to Lee. Over 18 million containers were handled last year. There were more than 216,000 vessels of all sizes and some 380 container-liner services per week, and over 500 links to the rest of the world. More than maintaining the current position of the container port, the government are also adding to the port's capacity with the construction of a new container terminal, Lee said. The Port and Maritime Board of the government is now mapping out plans on how to cope with the forecast increase in TEU capacity to 30 million "boxes" in the next ten years, and the review is scheduled for completion in the middle of this year, said Lee. Matching the container port's round-the-clock hyper-activity is Hong Kong's international air-cargo terminal, also the world's busiest, which last year handled some two-and-a-quarter million tons of cargo. The air-cargo terminal offers access to a wide range of aviation services covering routes, frequency and reliability. Currently, some 65 airlines operate over 3,600 scheduled flights each week between Hong Kong and 130 destinations worldwide. To further expand the airport's capabilities, Lee said the government is increasing the dedicated cargo stands by more than 60 percent to 21. A new marine cargo terminal at the airport will begin operating at the end of March with direct 24-hour access to 16 ports in the Pearl Rive Delta. Furthermore, the Airport Authority has recently awarded a tender for the development of a 1.4 hectare logistics center to further expand the airport's capabilities. At the moment, the Hong Kong International Airport can handle up to 45 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo a year with ample room for almost doubling the passenger handling capacity and trebling the cargo throughput. A review of the airport's development is now in progress, according to Lee. The HKSAR has built an excellent range and mix of infrastructure to support its emerging role as a leading logistics and multi-modal transport center for the region and into the Chinese mainland, Lee said. China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization will also deliver renewed impetus to the growth of regional trade and new opportunities for Hong Kong's transportation and logistics sector, said Lee. Currently, on average, 330,000 passengers a day travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland and the average daily throughput of cargo exceeds 3 million tons. There is a lot more the HKSAR can do to improve its cross- boundary links with the mainland, particularly with the Pearl River Delta, Lee said. |
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