Opening remarks by USTL at Hong Kong’s NextGen Logistician Awards Presentation Ceremony 2024 (English only) (with photo)
Following are the opening remarks by the Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Liu Chun-san, at Hong Kong's NextGen Logistician Awards Presentation Ceremony 2024 today (November 19):
Elsa (President of Hong Kong Logistics Association, Ms Elsa Yuen), Peter (Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Shippers' Council, Mr Peter Hui), Sunny (Executive Director of Hong Kong Shippers' Council, Mr Sunny Ho), distinguished guests, students, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is my great honour and pleasure to join you all in the presentation ceremony of the Hong Kong's NextGen Logistician Awards 2024.
The Awards are a joint effort of the logistics industry and are for the logistics industry, with an aim to recognise young talent who have made remarkable contributions to the trade and displayed a fervent passion for and strong career development potential or credentials in logistics. I am glad to learn that the response from the industry in this inaugural edition of the Awards was overwhelming, and the Judging Panel has made some very hard decisions to eventually pick out the five deserving awardees out of the pool of very fine competitors, some of whom are also with us today.
I must say that the Awards are not all about winning, because being considered by their employers or industry organisations as worthy of nomination as an outstanding Emerging Talent, Young Professional or Young Executive, as the three categories of the Awards are intended to recognise, is already a solid testament to their contributions and achievements, of which our nominees should be very proud. Indeed, I believe that the whole logistics industry rallies behind the groundbreaking Awards not just for celebrating the winners but also for the many young talent in the trade who are injecting new energy into the logistics sector with their brilliant ideas and innovations and who will one day take the helm and lead the industry to scale new heights. For this, I suggest a round of applause for our winners, nominees and all young logisticians.
Of course, our five winners are the jolly good fellows today which, needless to say, nobody can deny. In them, we see how creativity, industry and dedication can make modern logistics tick, irrespective of their level of career advancement. After all, a visionary leader can drive the development of his company and the industry as a whole, but a budding talent too may have bubbling ideas that may be picked up by the management and grow into real business. And this is really what I hope the young people also joining us today will learn from our awardees: dare to try, be steadfast and give back, and all the tremendous opportunities that a career in the logistics industry can afford will be there for you to venture.
And opportunities in logistics are indeed plentiful. Gone are the days when the word "logistics" conjures up images of back-breaking delivery jobs with meagre pay requiring low skills. Smart technologies are now central to modern logistics development, and state-of-the-art logistics facilities are the launch pad of our awardees. We know stereotypes are hard to break. That is why the Government is making good its promise made in the Action Plan on Modern Logistics Development promulgated in 2023 by joining hands with logistics enterprises, trade associations and logistics professionals to reach out to the younger generation through a major rebranding campaign to champion the new image of the logistics industry and showcase the excellent career prospect the industry is ready to offer. Changing perceptions needs to start early, so our campaign will mainly target primary and secondary school students, and involve the introduction of a tailored curriculum, with elements both inside and outside schools, which allows students a glimpse of and hopefully arouse their interest in the logistics industry. For older students, we will offer them a "logistics taster" by working with the industry to put interested students on job shadowing and internships. We target to roll out the campaign in 2025, and I hope that the eager young faces here will participate and find it fun.
Lastly, my gratitude goes to the Hong Kong Shippers' Council and the Hong Kong Logistics Association for organising the Awards, and the members of the Judging Panel for their adjudication effort. I would also like to thank members of the Hong Kong Logistics Development Council for providing valuable suggestions on the launch of the Awards, as well as the logistics trade as a whole for your staunch support in promoting the image of and fostering the manpower development for the industry.
Once again, congratulations to the winners of the Awards. Thank you very much.
