The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mable Chan, on Wednesday said that the SAR government is actively building an international "partner port" network that covers strategic cooperation with ports on the mainland and Belt and Road countries.

This came after the government earlier announced the city's first batch of three "partner ports" that includes key maritime centres on the mainland and in South America.

The partnerships were established with ports in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Dalian and San Antonio in Chile.

Speaking at the Greater Bay Maritime Forum 2025 at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Chan said the new network could also strengthen the overall competitiveness of the Greater Bay Area.

"By strengthening the port connections with our overseas and Chinese mainland ports partners, it will not only allow us to foster new collaboration, exchange the best practices, and improve trade and logistics efficiency, but also help solidify Hong Kong's position as a premier international shipping centre in the Greater Bay region and thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of the region," she told participants.

Meanwhile, Chan noted that the government is set to implement a series of new measures to drive the maritime sector growth, including setting up the "rail-sea-land-river" Intermodal Transport System as announced by Chief Executive John Lee in his Policy Address in September.

The system will involve cooperation with mainland places including Chongqing, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan and Yunnan.

"These resource-rich provinces can fully leverage on Hong Kong's global connectivity network to flexibly transfer goods worldwide, while attracting more cargo sources to Hong Kong and improving the city's appeal as a hub for cargo, consolidation and trans-shipment, thus creating a win-win solution," she said.

During the event, Chan also hailed the record high number of over 18,000 participants attending this year's Hong Kong Maritime Week that kicked off on Monday.

Separately, she hinted that a green maritime fuel development communication platform could be launched in the coming days to link industry players across the green maritime fuel supply chain.

The government, she added, is also pushing to unveil a smart digitalised Port Community System (PCS) early next year to offer round-the-clock, real-time cargo tracking, while consolidating sea, land, and air transport data and information.

The Transport and Logistics Bureau has been collaborating with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to digitise cargo data using block chain technology to boost cargo and customs clearance efficiency.