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Written by: Yang Yingwei
2020-11-24 19:00
Last update date: 2020-11-24 19:00
"Look at the terminals all over the world, the government's participation is so high, except for Hong Kong." Huang Huihong sighed.
The transformation and upgrading of the shipping industry is not a question of "choose one out of two".
The conclusion of an empirical study conducted by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 2017 wrote that in mature maritime centers such as London, high-end shipping services and port development are mutually beneficial; however, in Hong Kong, which has mature ports, port development and shipping services They compete with each other.
The main reason is that Hong Kong has limited land, capital and professional talents, and the physical shipping industry and shipping service industry need to compete for limited resources.
Shipping logistics.
Way Out | Transition or upgrade to London or Rotterdam?
How to save Hong Kong's shipping logistics from "the port brother" to "sunset industry"?
The shipping logistics industry is an industry with large investment, long return periods, and high risks. The resources required for industrial transformation and upgrading depend on government support.
However, the SAR government that is "at the helm" has always evaded the responsibility of "control", and the industrial soil has naturally deteriorated day by day.
Taking the land issue as an example, it is a problem that only the government can solve.
No matter which direction Hong Kong's shipping industry takes, it will be restricted by land issues.
If you want to move towards London and transform and develop the shipping service industry, Hong Kong needs to attract internationally renowned shipping service companies to set up branches in Hong Kong, or encourage local companies to expand their scale. However, corporate development needs to consider operating costs. The "bigger" is rent.
Luo Meifeng bluntly stated that the land issue has restricted the development of all industries in Hong Kong. "A long time ago, when our real estate prices kept going up, we watched our shipping service companies move to Singapore. This is not just the shipping industry. If other industries want to develop in the long term, we must also consider a question: how can we slightly reduce the cost of doing business in Hong Kong?"
If you have a bird’s eye view of Tsing Yi Island, you can see that there are shipyards, oil depots, docks and power plants on the south and west of the island; the southeast is Kwai Tsing Container Terminal Pier 9; however, the northeast and central are residential areas where residents live A distance from the heavy industry zone.
(Photo by Liang Pengwei)
And if you want to go in the direction of Rotterdam and promote the upgrading of the shipping and logistics industry, you also need more land to have space to build an automated terminal and logistics park.
Ye Wenqi said: "Cainiao and Amazon have made the warehouse bigger. (The warehouse) can only accommodate robotic arms and robots. If you want to invest a lot of money to build robots and robotic arms, but the warehouse is so small If you find a robot to do it, the overall cost-effectiveness may not be that high."
Regardless of the option, the relocation of the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal is the most important step in solving the land problem.
The “Development Proposal” pointed out that the 380-hectare Kwai Tsing Container Terminal not only “limits the value of the land in the superior location, but also the annual land transportation volume of more than 20 million tons puts a certain pressure on the urban traffic, and the freight is heavy. Cars also have an adverse impact on the urban environment.” Ye Wenqi said that the released Kwai Tsing container terminal land can be used for residential or commercial purposes. At the same time as the relocation, it can also re-plan and build automated infrastructure facilities. Industrial upgrading of the overall shipping logistics industry.
Tax concessions, "numbers", talent policy "small devices"
The Hong Kong government once boasted that it wanted to develop high-end shipping services in Hong Kong, but when it came to practice, it was frequently practiced and had a lack of expertise.
As early as 2017, Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed the development of "maritime services" in the first "Policy Address", but there is no specific policy, only that "Hong Kong Maritime Administration is committed to expanding the maritime industry promotion work overseas and in the Mainland, introducing well-known Shipping companies".
As of the 2018 Policy Address, she finally came up with a set of physical policies that promised to support the high-end shipping service industry, including providing tax concessions to the ship leasing industry and marine insurance industry, and to build Hong Kong into a “ship leasing center in the Asia-Pacific region” ", also includes injecting capital into the "Marine and Air Transport Talent Training Fund."
But how is it implemented?
In an interview with the Sing Tao Daily, Yi Zhiming, a member of the Legislative Council for Shipping and Transportation, mentioned that the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Chen Fan, at the “Policy Address” consultation meeting in August Commodity traders provide tax concessions to attract them to settle in Hong Kong, thereby allowing more high-end shipping service industries to come to Hong Kong.” That is, two years later, tax concessions are still being studied, and “landing” is nowhere in sight.
Talent policies such as the "Talent Training Fund" are even more discerning.
The "Marine and Air Transport Talent Training Fund" established in 2014 aims to "build a dynamic, diversified and competitive professional and technical talent pool to support the long-term development of Hong Kong's maritime and aviation industries." It seems very ambitious. But the amount is only 100 million yuan.
It took five years before the government injected another 200 million yuan in capital last year.
What is the concept of this amount?
In this year’s Budget, the government stated that this talent training program has benefited about 8,400 students and current maritime and aviation industry professionals in the past five years; that is, in the past five years, the average number of talents applying for the training program has been about 12,000. Yuan funding.
Compared with Shenzhen, the "neighbor", as long as university graduates settle down, they can receive at least RMB 15,000 in rent and living allowances from the government. This shows how small the Hong Kong government is for talents.
Huang Huihong pointed out that the policies of the SAR government are "so fragmented": "Shenzhen has introduced a series of measures and will set a goal in the end. I dare not say that the whole set of policies is considered very well, but at least every aspect is considered. For example, how do you attract A talent does not only add "manpower" to him, but his "clothing, food, housing, transportation", insurance, children's education, etc., must be covered by policies." On the other hand, the Hong Kong government likes to talk about "mature one pushes one item."
Huang Huihong criticized such policy formulation as "working behind closed doors": "They (the SAR government) said that they did not know what they were talking about with a certain mainland government... What do you want? What is the ultimate goal? I don't know."
Formulate comprehensive policies to drive surrounding industries
If the label of "sunset industry" is removed, the transformation and upgrading of the shipping and logistics industry can become a new economic force, which can relieve the land difficulties, open up the industrial chain and provide employment.
Singapore once faced the same dilemma as Hong Kong. It sits on the Strait of Malacca and handles about one-fifth of the global container transshipment business every year.
With the development of the city, the surrounding area of the Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal has become a financial district, a commercial district and a tourist area; coupled with the rapid development of the shipping industry, the old terminal can no longer cope with the current port throughput and large ships, and it is not conducive to technological upgrading.
All the above are exactly the same as the development trajectory of the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in Hong Kong.
The difference is that in the face of pillar industries, the Singapore government has shown greater "determination" than the Hong Kong government.
In order to maintain its own advantages, Singapore proposed the Tuas Port (TUAS) construction plan in 2013. It plans to build a port with a throughput of 65 million TEU in four phases by 2040. This plan is also part of the Singapore Government’s "Thirty Years Plan" a part.
The current container throughput of Singapore is about 37 million TEU, ranking second in the world. After the completion of the Tuas Port terminal, the port throughput will be twice as high as the current one.
Of course, the backgrounds of the two ports are different.
Singapore’s ports are operated by the government, and the relocation is also "approved" by the government. Hong Kong’s ports are operated by private operators, but this should not be an excuse for stagnant development.
Ye Wenqi believes that the government should have good coordination and communication with the operators, and emphasized that the government must be the "leader": "You move to a new location, so it is difficult to rely on the private sector to find it. Whether it is reclamation or the Pearl River Delta Regardless of integration, the government will take the lead.” He also pointed out that port relocation is a long-term project, and the government should start planning immediately: “Look at Singapore, it’s not to move the port right away, but to talk about 30 to 40 years. Moving like this in the first phase is a "step-by-step" process. But because of the long time, you (the Hong Kong government) now have to not only start thinking, but even start doing it!"
Located in the Cainiao unmanned warehouse in Wuxi, intelligent robots are processing double 11 orders.
(Web image)
Ye Wenqi suggested that the government should follow the example of Singapore to formulate a long-term and comprehensive plan: "The Solidarity Hong Kong Fund recommends that Hong Kong develop an industrial policy. Singapore will conduct an economic review every ten years and an industrial policy review every five years. There will be a blueprint. After that, there will be land and other “basket” policies to cooperate.” For example, in addition to building a port, the Singapore government will also use policies to promote the upgrading of supporting facilities.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore proposed the "Next Generation Port 2030" (NGP2030) in 2015.
Under the "NGP 2030" plan, Tuas Port will be transformed into a smart port, applying various advanced port technologies, including automated terminals, smart ship traffic management systems, and port digital communities.
Ye Wenqi lamented: "If the shipping industry is really upgraded and transformed, it can drive many other peripheral industries!" He pointed out that Hong Kong’s universities are ranked high and upstream scientific research is done well, but it is difficult to land and commercialize technology products. The automation needs of the shipping logistics industry upgrade can match the talents and scientific research results of this part.
The artificial intelligence and big data technology in university laboratories can also participate in the digital trend of the shipping service industry, and increase Hong Kong’s attractiveness to shipping service companies. "This industry is very traditional, such as booking and payment. Now many shipping companies are promoting digitization and using methods to reduce costs in the payment process. Now, taking advantage of the digitization process to study a thing that can be used by all shipping companies and reduce business operation costs, the shipping service industry can be attracted to Hong Kong for development. Luo Meifeng emphasized, "These should not be done by a certain industry company, but by the government to invest in technology."
When a reporter asked whether automation would aggravate unemployment, Ye Wenqi responded: "Automation or digitalization is a general trend that cannot be changed. You cannot resist because there are fewer jobs. Instead, you must think about how to make these employees upgrade and transform in this trend. To some new positions. The government should continue to increase its investment in personnel training.” He also pointed out that the current container terminals are facing the problem of not being able to recruit crane operators, and automation is the solution.
"Is it going to be "shirtless" to make a boom, or do I want to sit in the room and "sigh" and press the remote control? Surely the latter is more attractive."
"Automation is not difficult. The logic is the same as the original operation. It is only carried out in an air-conditioned room." Huang Huihong said that 70% of the newest Pier 9 was also automated, and workers were also "retrained" at that time.
She emphasized, "The most important thing is to transform this industry from a "sunset" into a modern thing, so that people can see the prospects before someone enters the industry."
At the current Asian Conference on Logistics, Shipping and Air Transport, Lam said that he had discussed with the Guangdong Provincial Government the preferential measures for the development of the shipping and logistics industry and promised to publish it in the "Policy Address."
Can the SAR government help the shipping and logistics industry to remove the label of "sunset industry"?
Can you come up with determination and measures to drive the industrial transformation and upgrading of the shipping logistics industry?
We will wait and see.
The above is excerpted from the 241st issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Report (November 23, 2020) "Saving the Nation: Deterioration of the Industrial Soil "The Captain" Can No Longer Resign." If you want to read the full text, please
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Selected content of the 241 issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly News:
[Cover Report] How to save Hong Kong's shipping logistics from "Port One" to "Sunset Industry"?
Interview with Lin Chen, a financial scholar at the University of Hong Kong, how does Hong Kong develop inclusive finance?
Backed by network advantages, online and offline interactive gaming industry emerges under the epidemic
[The Chief Executive, please find the number] What about going with the people?
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RCEP holds a group for warmth around China's economic "matrix" is forming
When will the RCEP become the end of Taiwan’s economic and trade “cooking frog effect”
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In the future] R&D and safety are difficult to determine the pros and cons of "emergency use of vaccines"
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