Letter To The Editor

Sir, I have read with great interest your article ‘Territory still the premier location for professionals’ (Lloyd’s List, September 9) and although few would question Hong Kong as an important third party ship management centre, I believe comparisons with Singapore do not do the latter country a great favour, particularly if they are not substantiated.

There isn’t anything in Hong Kong that Singapore cannot match — if not exceed by leaps and bounds — in terms of tax regimes, financial services and living conditions.

In addition, as you well know, Hong Kong is in the middle of a property bubble, which is very likely to burst.

I am sure you fully realise that whatever Singapore has achieved on this front, and many others, didn’t happen by accident, as was the case with Hong Kong’s laissez faire policies, but it was the result of careful planning and meticulous implementation.

For example, Singapore is a leading country in terms of research and development expenditure; an area where Hong Kong still has to demonstrate its record. Maritime R&D in Singapore is among the strongest in the world (and I am entitled to have a qualified opinion here), comprising, among others, three chairs in maritime management in its three universities, working in harmony and transferring knowledge to the country’s ship-management sector. This says something; don’t you agree?

Professor HE Haralambides
MEL-Erasmus University

Rotterdam
 

Source: Lloyd's List