Marcus, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It's my great pleasure to welcome you all back to Hong Kong for the Lloyd's List Asia Awards . I would like to thank the Lloyd's List for choosing Hong Kong again as the venue for the Asia Awards Ceremony. This year is also particularly special for us, as we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Your presence here has therefore doubled the happiness. My thanks also go to the maritime industry for contributing to the success of the event by your enthusiastic participation in the voting process.

For many years the Lloyd's List has provided an excellent opportunity for significant achievements of the Asian maritime industry to be recognized. Looking through the list of finalists for the awards, I am reminded of the many different elements in the maritime business, ranging from shipowning to ship managing, surveying, insurance, law, financing, training, management of container terminal and logistics operations. This prestigious annual event, which is being held for the ninth consecutive year, has without doubt served as an effective incentive for the industry to continuously sharpen its competitive edge and strive for excellence.

Hong Kong is fortunate to be strategically located in the centre of Asia-Pacific region. Together with an industrious and entrepreneurial maritime sector, as well as a close Government-Industry partnership, Hong Kong is now the 7th largest maritime centre and one of the busiest ports in the world today. Our shipowners own, manage or operate more than 1 200 vessels amounting to over eight per cent of the world's merchant fleet in terms of deadweight tonnage.

On a regional scale, the achievement of the Asian shipping community is extraordinary. It's most encouraging to note that Asian shipowners and managers now control about half of the world merchant fleet. Moreover, the top three shipbuilding countries are all in Asia, namely Japan, South Korea and China; and together they have captured well over 80 per cent of the global shipbuilding market. The Asian shipping scene is seeing extremely robust growth ahead, buttressed by the enormous growth of China's economy. To date, Hong Kong is among the top five shipping registers, with the gross tonnage of registered vessels topping the 35 million mark.

Hong Kong, under the principle of 'One Country, Two Systems', maintains our own legal and judicial systems. Hong Kong remains a separate customs territory and we keep our own shipping register and negotiate our own air services agreements. The rule of law, clean government, free flow of information and a simple, low-tax system are all part of the fabric of Hong Kong. Those who do business here truly experience a free, in fact freest, as well as a business-friendly economy.

The rapid expansion of shipping sector in the region has inevitably brought about challenges for the maritime community. Nurturing new talent and attracting more people to join the industry, is one of the key issues that we have to work on. To help address the manpower issue, we have introduced the Hong Kong Maritime Scholarship earlier this year to attract talent to study a master degree programme on shipping in Hong Kong to pave their way to joining our maritime industry after the study. We are also taking a further step to work on a graduate student exchange programme in law between universities in Mainland and Hong Kong. We wish, upon completion of their studies, these students will be able to contribute to the growing economic integration of the Mainland and Hong Kong through closer cooperation in professional maritime services.

In closing, I would like to congratulate the winners of the awards. Your success is not only a recognition of the achievement of your corporation, but also a demonstration of the vibrancy of the maritime industry in the Asian region. Last but not least, I wish all of you a most enjoyable stay in Hong Kong, as well as a wonderful evening tonight.

Thank you.