Planning and competition seem to be concepts that are incompatible.

In Friedrich von Hayek's enormously influential work, The Road to Serfdom, he reminds us that "the planning against which all our criticism is directed is solely the planning against competition - the planning which is to be a substitute for competition."

Planning can be a good thing, as long as it's for competition.

Unfortunately, only very few governments understand how to plan for competition. Most of the time, they plan against it.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi- yuen recently made a comment about the future of the Greater Bay Area development, noting that Beijing will not allow cities to compete against each other.

He said Hong Kong should focus on its role as a financial center, leaving the container terminal business to other cities.

If the SAR gives up its container terminal business, does it imply that neighboring cities will give up their financial industry?

Let's be realistic! There will always be some competition.

Even though Hong Kong has its own constraints, we also have our advantages. Competition is all about doing the same thing in a different way, in hopes of achieving a result better than others. Hong Kong is well positioned to be different.

The world's largest container ship, MOL Triumph, recently stopped over in Hong Kong. In fact, there will be more mega vessels to come in the foreseeable future.

OOCL Hong Kong, the first container ship to break the 21,100 twentyfoot equivalent mark, will be delivered in November.

Container ships built 20 years ago generally had capacity of about 6,400 to 8,400 TEUs. Then years ago, new container ships could carry about 12,500 to 14,500 TEUs.

Not only do ports have to have deep channels and large cranes to accommodate the newly built mega vessels, port operations also have to become more efficient, so more goods can move through without delay.

Competition between different ports will certainly continue, and likely be very fierce.

If we want Hong Kong to win, we should ask our government to make the case about planning for freedom, by upholding our free port spirit, market flexibility and adaptability.

Simon Lee is a business consultant

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