|
|
|
 (Tel)86-574-87454880 |
 (Fax)86-574-87834090 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
HK's high property prices hinder port expansion, official says
|
Time:2017/9/19 14:47:02 |
HONG Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing, Frank Chan Fan, said the sea port's container throughput was expected to rise slightly this year from 19.8 million TEU in 2016.
"This year it is going up by a single digit percentage," Mr Chan told Reuters on the sidelines of London International Shipping Week.
With some of the highest real estate prices in the world, Hong Kong also faces difficulties with any potential expansion of port facilities.
"Hong Kong could do better if we have lower land prices, lower property costs," Mr Chan said. "We are trying to boost the higher value end of maritime cargo volume. So, we are hopeful."
Hong Kong has just signed an agreement with Britain to deepen commercial co-operation in the maritime sector.
Hong Kong is undergoing a number of infrastructure projects including the construction of a 23-kilometre bridge across the Pearl River Estuary.
An extension of the city's airport runways, which is expected to be completed in 2024, is estimated to see air cargo volumes grow from 4.5 million tonnes currently to nine million tonnes in coming years, Mr Chan said.
He said Hong Kong sought to gain from Chinese President Xi Jinping's trillion-dollar push to build a modern Silk Road - known as Belt and Road - which aims to create land, sea and air routes from Asia to Europe. "We have to co-benefit from the Belt and Road initiative," Mr Chan said. "It is not a game that the winning one takes all - it has to be a collaborative approach." | | | | | | | |
(QQ)1975641934