Hong Kong eyes Vietnam shipping opportunities

Cheng, who arrived Thursday on a two-day visit looking for business opportunities, told the meeting: “Shipping is not just about moving containers. It requires a lot of supporting services including brokerage, shipping finance, insurance and law of arbitration.”The seminar, organized by the HCMC chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and chaired by her, focused on bilateral cooperation opportunities in shipping and forwarding, and the current regional and global challenges facing the industry.
She said her delegation, which includes shipping experts, is here to discuss using Hong Kong as a main gateway for intra-Asian and global freight and strengthening investment in Vietnam’s shipping infrastructure among other issues.
Upgrading Vietnam’s vessel fleet using state-of-the-art technology is another target for the Hong Kong delegation, she said.
The economic turmoil is not an unprecedented challenge for the Hong Kong shipping industry since the Special Administrative Region (SAR) had faced such problems during the last several crises, she said.
But she said to Thanh Nien Daily: “Our transport industry saw a decrease of 20 percent in shipping and 30 percent in air cargo last year.”
Cheng and her delegation toured Saigon Port and the Maritime Vietnam 2009 Exhibition and Conference being held in Saigon South.
They leave for Hanoi today to meet Deputy Minister of Transport Tran Doan Tho to discuss cooperation between the transport sector in Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Trade between Vietnam and Hong Kong in the first 11 months of last year was US$3.41 billion, a 24 percent year-on-year increase.
Hong Kong ranks seventh among foreign investors in Vietnam with 494 projects with a registered capital of $6.32 billion.