Policy Address

(B) International Shipping Centre

47. Hong Kong is one of the world's busiest and most efficient ports, and ranks fourth in the International Shipping Centre Development Index (ISCDI). The average length of stay of container vessels in the Hong Kong port is 0.95 days, about half the average of 1.85 days for the world's top 20 container ports, earning our city the reputation as a "catch-up port" for vessels to make up for delays in other ports.

48. The shipping business is composed of the port sector and maritime services, in which maritime services (including professional services such as ship broking, financing and leasing, maritime insurance, maritime law and arbitration) are the high-value-added segment of shipping business and the source of growth, having grown by nearly 40% over the past three years (from 2019 to 2022) in terms of economic contribution. We will step up our efforts in fostering Hong Kong's maritime industry while taking a multi-pronged approach to consolidate our status as an international shipping centre.