Officials of China‘s National Development and Reform Commission have stated that urban planning at a 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” and faciliate “inter-operability and collaborative development.”
The Pearl River Delta (PRD), comprising a cluster of nine cities of Guangdong (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing), is one such agglomeration – with over 43 million inhabitants, it is larger than Argentina, Canada or Malaysia.
Geography dictates that little Macau comes into this ‘agglomeration’, being referred to, 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 – cars, wine, furniture, the list is endless – but where does this stuff get stored before it reaches your and my shopping bags?
Logistics companies despair at the extreme shortage of warehouse space. One company we work closely with has obtained some land and been waiting ten years for government approval to build warehouse space on it! And as for 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.
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 HK$10 per square foot to HK$16. 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 where to leave to?!
I don’t want this lament to be a moan, but I can’t 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.