At the recent Logistics Conference of Hong Kong, the Chinese Minister of Communications Zhang Chunxian scoffed at the notion that Hong Kong's days as a logistics hub were numbered, making a strong pitch for the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), a de facto free trade agreement, signed between Hong Kong and mainland China. Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China, where Hong Kong companies have proliferated, will play a symbiotic role long into the future, claimed Zhang, as the former British colony continues to develop logistics and infrastructure links with China. A Underscoring the need for "Hong Kong and the mainland to cooperate and benefit each other," he noted that 22 Hong Kong companies had already applied to set up logistics operations under the CEPA regulations with more expected by the end of 2004. Indeed, with Hong Kong companies having shown "great interest" to start haulage operations in China, CEPA would bring "even greater opportunities" in shipping and land transport. While such official blessings are comforting, the question that keeps every China-centric shipper guessing is how long will Hong Kong continue to assert its unique role as a logistics hub in the Asia-Pacific region? Various organizations connected with the logistics sector feel that more work needs to be done to improve transport links between Hong Kong and the PRD region, while at the same time the costs of freight transport must be reduced.
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