The Port of Hong Kong

Abstract

As a former British colony, Hong Kong has become famous chiefly for its impressive economic development in a ‘laissez faire’ environment. The natural harbour, which handles 90% of all trade with Hong Kong, is the main reason for this. Hong Kong is the largest container port in the world handling 14.5 million TEU in 1998. According to the prognoses, this growth is likely to continue. No less than 50% of the total cargo is shipped in and out in containers. The remaining transhipment consists of bulk goods such as oil, coal and cement. The port activities have always managed to thrive under the prevailing economic policy. The remarkable thing is that Hong Kong has never had a port authority (in the sense of land manager). That changed more or less in the late eighties when the development of the port reached its geographical and institutional limits. The developments in trade were taking place so rapidly that thinking and planning needed to occur on a much larger scale. This also required a different commitment from government and involved a departure from its laissez-faire attitude to some extent.