Logistics platform creates one-stop customs shop
Customs clearance for goods coming into Hong Kong from west of the Pearl River Estuary will speed up after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opens as Hong Kong and Zhuhai authorities launch a shared electronic logistics information platform.
A Hong Kong logistics research institute on Tuesday said the platform, aimed at streamlining logistics for enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area participating in global trade, is the first crossboundary logistics facilitation platform shared by Hong Kong and the mainland.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai Trade Facilitation Platform provides a golden opportunity to connect the flow of logistics information across the Bay Area, said Simon Wong, Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre chief executive.
The e-platform lets enterprises from Zhuhai submit documents relating to trade and customs declarations for authorities on both sides in one go.
The online platform will also provide automatic conversion services for enterprises’ cargo data, ensuring data formats meet requirements of different jurisdictions.
Big-data analytics and artificial intelligence will be used to help enterprises lodge import and export declarations more accurately.
The cooperation with Zhuhai set a template for
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the Hong Kong’s better integration into the Bay Area, which also leverages the city’s advantages in scientific research and technology, and apply them to the broader market, Wong noted.
Looking forward, the platform has started planning to expand its functions and connect with other business platforms across different industries, such as flight and shipping booking, cargo logistics and supply chain, trade financing and sourcing, Wong said.
The e-platform schedule was revealed on the same day as six logistics organizations signed an agreement to establish an alliance in Hong Kong to foster development of logistics technology within the Bay Area.
Delivering a speech on the signing ceremony, Ken Chung Hong-hing, chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Logistics Industry, pointed out that Hong Kong’s logistics industry — one of the four major economic pillars of the city — needs to be upgraded.
The alliance hopes to apply advanced technology when upgrading the industry in Hong Kong and other cities in the Bay Area, including big-data analytics, artificial intelligence and blockchain, Chung said.
The member institutions are the Chamber of Hong Kong Logistics Industry, GS1 Hong Kong — a global article numbering association, Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, Hong Kong Blockchain Industry Association, Guangdong Logistics Industry Association and International Supply Chain Alliance.