HK secures shipping education agreement
Hong Kong has signed an important cooperation agreement with one of the country’s top shipping education institutions to nurture more shipping talents for the city and the nation.
The agreement marks Hong Kong’s first-ever shipping education cooperation with non-local institutions.
While on the campaign trail in March, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor vowed to devise policies to add value to the shipping and logistics industries, strengthen Hong Kong’s global competitiveness in shipping and promote sustainable shipping development.
This followed the central government’s statement in the 13th Five-Year Plan (201620) issued in March last year that Hong Kong should “continue to consolidate and develop” its role as an international financial, shipping and trade center.
Next month the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will begin a maritime educational program with Shanghai Maritime University (SMU). This allows graduates from the SMU law school to undertake a one-year common-law master’s degree program in HKU.
Students must work in the maritime industry in Hong Kong for at least one year after completing the program. The government’s Maritime and Aviation Training Fund will sponsor the tuition fees and living allowances of the students.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan said Hong Kong, as a shipping and logistics center, always emphasized training skilled people for the industry.
Hong Kong has excellent resources in law education; it can therefore train talented people in maritime law through this program, Chan said.
The program boosts academic communication and cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland. It will also encourage more young people to work in shipping and logistics, Chan explained.
He hopes students from the university in Shanghai, after studying and working in Hong Kong, will have a sound knowledge of the shipping industry on both sides and make contributions to the development of a national shipping industry.
Chan made the remarks on Monday at the signing ceremony of the academic program. The ceremony also saw the establishment of the Shanghai-Hong Kong International Maritime Research Centre.
The center, jointly established by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute and Hong Kong Shipowners Association, will serve as a collaborative platform between Shanghai and Hong Kong. It will promote exchanges, training and research programs in shipping, ports and related areas.