Officials of China‘s National Development and Reform Commission have stated that urban planning at multi-city level is now being prepared nationally. More than 20 urban agglomerations around the country will be classified in order to provide strategic level guidance on “development goals, infrastructure construction and function orientation.”
The Pearl River Delta (PRD), comprising a cluster of nine cities of Guangdong (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhao-qing), is one such agglomeration. According to a recent World Bank report the PRD has knocked Tokyo off the top position as being the World’s largest urban area both in terms of size and population. With over 43 million inhabitants this is larger than Argentina, Canada or Malaysia.
The systematic guidance is intended to clearly differentiate urban development goals for cities within agglomeration areas by providing “development direction for networks and infrastructure, promoting city-specific features and regional positioning” and primarily acts to emphasize “inter-operability and collaborative development.”
All well and good. But what happens when it comes to Macau? Geography dictates that little Macau comes into this ‘agglomeration’, being referred, together with Hong Kong as the “+2” of the “9 + 2” classification being bandied about these days. Here we sit on the edge of this giant area of development with differing tax systems, differing laws, different currencies, so that such ‘inter-operability’ becomes tricky.
Which in a roundabout way brings me to my main point. With all this massive development brings growth of business; more companies, more people, all needing more stuff (be it cars, wine, furniture, the list is endless) – but where does this stuff get stored before it reaches your and my shopping bags? Logistics companies are ringing their hands in despair at the extreme shortage of warehouse space. One company we work closely with have obtained some land and been waiting ten – yes, ten – years for government approval to build warehouse space on it. And the companies here that service the hotels and casinos – where do they store their gaming machines, spare parts, and massive stores of furnishings, fixtures and equipment needed to keep these operations running smoothly?
True, there are pockets of spaces being freed up as the rag trade businesses, traditional occupants of industrial units are either going bust or moving to cheaper locations across the border. But still not nearly enough space is available.
Move to warehouses in Zhuhai I can hear you suggest. But no, its not that simple, there are cross border tax implications, not to mention the additional trucking time and costs.
Those smart owners of warehouses here in Macau are laughing all the way to the bank. One of our global clients storing large pieces of equipment in a 15,000 square foot unit has just had a rent hike from HKD10 per square foot to HKD16. And the landlord will only sign a one year lease so further hikes are imminent. Like it or leave is the landlord’s opinion – but there to leave to?!
I don’t want this lament to be a moan, but I cant see things getting better any time soon. And with the bridge between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai I believe that opportunities abound for Macau to be a favourable landing point for storage and repackaging of goods, a logistics hub between the Delta’s west and east. This brings jobs and wages to the pockets of locals.
So please Macau government, spare a thought and give more support to the logistics field and the business of storage in general – more warehouse space is urgently needed.
