keynote speech
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Speech by the Director
of Marine at the
Nautical
Institute’s International Seminar and AGM
13 June 2019
Captain [Nick] Nash (N.I. president), Captain
[Amit] BHARGAVA (N.I. HK Branch chairman), members of the
Nautical Institute, Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. On behalf of the Hong Kong Government, I
would like to extend my warmest welcome to our friends from the Nautical
Institute who come from all over of the world to Hong Kong. With over 20,000 members in more than 90
countries, the Nautical Institute has been representing different sectors of
the maritime industry on a global scale; and has played a pivotal role in promoting
standards for safety and competency in the industry. I am delighted that you have chosen Hong Kong
as the venue for holding your AGM and the International Seminar, which is an
endorsement of our position as an international maritime centre.
Over the years, the maritime industry in Hong Kong has
developed into an important engine for our economic growth. Strategically located on the Far East trade
routes, the port of Hong Kong is not only the gateway to Southern China, but is
also a regional hub of the Asia-Pacific Region. The following figures speak for themselves: the
Hong Kong port is well-served by international shipping lines, with about 320
container liner services per week connecting to some 470[1]
destinations worldwide. Last year, the
number of ship arrivals in respect of ocean-going cargo vessels, river cargo
vessels and river passenger ferries were about 24,000, 67,600 and 81,500[2]
respectively. The Hong Kong Shipping
Register has already exceeded 127 million gross tonnage[3],
accounting for almost 10% of the world's merchant fleet, and is ranked fourth globally
in terms of gross tonnage. Whilst the
fleet size counts, we put more emphasis on the quality of our fleet. In 2018, the global detention rate of the Hong
Kong fleet was just 0.82%, as compared to the global average of 2.68%. In terms of services, with a cluster of over 800 shipping-related
companies[4],
we provide a wide range of quality maritime services, ranging from ship agency,
ship management, ship broking, ship finance, to marine insurance, and maritime
legal and arbitration services.
All these mean that we are
well-placed to face the challenges and to embrace the opportunities ahead. Speaking of opportunities, of special mention
is the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay
Area announced in February this year.
The Greater Bay Area covers the two Special Administrative Regions of
Hong Kong and Macao, as well as nine cities in the Guangdong Province such as Guangzhou
and Shenzhen. With a population of 70 million and a gross domestic
product amounting to US$1.5 trillion, it is an enormous market. The Outline Development Plan gives clear
support for Hong Kong’s status as an international maritime centre through the
development of high-end maritime services.
With our strength in terms of both infrastructure and professional
maritime services, this will present tremendous business opportunities for Hong
Kong.
To
ensure that our manpower resources are well-equipped to grasp the opportunities
and that our maritime industry will continue to excel, we have spare no efforts
in nurturing home-grown talents. To this
end, as early as in 2004, we have set up the Sea-going Training Incentive
Scheme to provide financial incentives for youngsters interested in taking up
cadetship training at sea and in joining the sea-going career. The Scheme now offers a monthly subsidy of
$6,000 to seagoing cadets. As at April
this year, a total of 545 youngsters have benefitted from the Scheme. 32 of them obtained the Master Mariner
Certificate; another 16 obtained the Chief Engineer Certificate. They will be valuable new blood to our industry.
In
addition, the Government has set up the $100 million Maritime and Aviation
Training Fund (MATF) in 2014 for sustaining and enhancing existing training
schemes and scholarships, as well as for launching new initiatives for the
maritime and aviation sectors. The aim
is to build up in due course a vibrant, diversified and competitive pool of
professionals and technical personnel to support Hong Kong's future development
in the two sectors. The Fund has thus
far benefitted about 7,000 students and practitioners, with about 60% of them coming
from the maritime sector. Funding
approval has recently been obtained for injection of an additional
$200 million into the Fund, and further initiatives will be launched to
support our aspiring seafarers.
We
fully share Nautical Institute’s commitment in enriching the professional
standing and knowledge of its members from all sectors of the maritime world. The International Seminar today provides an
excellent platform for maritime professionals to share insights and experiences;
get updated on new trends, new technologies and new regulations; as well as forge
and renew connections. These are all imperative
to the sustainable development of the maritime industry. Indeed, I have asked some of my younger colleagues
to attend the seminar today and to learn from the speakers and participants of
the very interesting topics to be discussed.
I’m sure they will benefit greatly.
I wish you
all a fruitful Seminar and an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong. Thank you.
[1] https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/html/en/HongKongsAdvantages/ConnectedHongKong.html
[2]
https://www.mardep.gov.hk/en/publication/pdf/portstat_pamphlet19.pdf
[3] as at
24 May 2019, Hong Kong Shipping Registry 127.6 gross tonnage
[4]
https://www.bayarea.gov.hk/en/opportunities/transport.html