The Hong Kong Shipowners Association would like to congratulate Mr. David Sterrett, Chairman of the 14th ASF, and his team at the Australian Shipowners Association for their warm welcome and superb organisation in hosting this year's meeting of the Forum. This meeting ends the second cycle of ASF meetings, and we should all be proud of the durability and consistency of the informal and consensual format of the meetings of the Forum.

The Asia-Pacific region is firmly in the spotlight, being the generator of cargo movement that has resulted in the consistently high returns being enjoyed by many owners and operators, the builder of the majority of the ships that efficiently contribute to global trade, and the supplier of at least 50 percent of the crew that sail on those ships. But the voice of the region is still perceived to be relatively weak, in many ways not participating at the level that our involvement in world shipping would seem to require.

While there are historical, geographical and cultural reasons why participation from the region might not be as strong as the rest of the industry seems to expect, it becomes increasingly incumbent on the ASF to fill the role of educator and coordinator of Asian industry opinion. The ASF itself is an informal body; with no permanent secretariat or formal funding arrangements it is difficult to be otherwise. The five 'S' Committees of the Asian Shipowners Forum, on the other hand, have made major progress in raising the profile of the Asian shipowner in international debate. The continuation and expansion of this work has to be encouraged by the Forum, so as to ensure that our region participates effectively and efficiently at all levels of debate in order to make the Asian voice heard in the formation of the regulations that increasingly control our business and change our commercial environment.

We would urge all delegates to continue to support the largely unfunded work of the 'S' Committees and to volunteer, where necessary and appropriate, to represent the Asian view at international conferences, industry working groups and in international debate. We are confident that this meeting of the Forum will go very smoothly - with ASA organization it is very unlikely to do otherwise - and look forward to stimulating debate as well as the company of old friends.