Hong Kong: Collaborating with ports in the Greater Bay Area to create a green ship refueling center.

On November 18th, the "Hong Kong Maritime Week 2024" kicked off with a grand opening ceremony. During his speech at the opening ceremony, Hong Kong's Acting Chief Executive Chen Kin-ping said, "Sustainable development and transforming Hong Kong into a green maritime center are the core policy objectives." He mentioned that the Hong Kong SAR government has recently released the "Action Plan for Green Ship Fuel Supply", which includes measures such as promoting necessary infrastructure development, encouraging ports to reduce emissions, and providing incentives to use green ship fuels. The "Action Plan" also emphasizes the need to collaborate with ports in the Greater Bay Area and other ports to build a green maritime corridor, aiming to establish Hong Kong as a center for green ship fuel supply. The "Hong Kong Maritime Week 2024" is a seven-day event with over 80 maritime organizations from Hong Kong, mainland China, and international participating in more than 50 industry and public activities, attracting around 14,500 industry professionals from around the world. Chairman of the Hong Kong Maritime Port Authority and Director of Transport and Logistics Bureau Lin Shi-xiong also mentioned in his speech following, "The global shipping industry is undergoing profound changes due to digitization, decarbonization, geopolitics, and global trade dynamics, and it requires agile and effective responses." He continued to say that the Hong Kong SAR government has always prioritized enhancing Hong Kong's role as the "super connector" in the shipping industry and the purpose of hosting the "Hong Kong Maritime Week". This year's activities of the maritime week further strengthen international connections, such as the first-ever two-day Hong Kong Global Maritime Trade Summit hosted by the International Shipping Association, where government officials from around the world convene in Hong Kong to discuss topics related to the shipping industry. Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Antonio Domnguez Velasco mentioned in his video address that the shipping industry is sailing towards a greener future. He believes that the decarbonization transformation of the shipping industry requires collective efforts, inclusivity, support for developing countries, promotion of technological experiments to accelerate decarbonization processes, and support for the application of digital tools to optimize operations, reduce fuel consumption, and monitor emissions in real time.