Ports need RM4 bln investment to expand
Malaysia's ports need investment of more than RM3.8 billion to raise capacity and win a greater share of global trade, a report said today.
Malaysian ports had grown from handling one percent of world trade to three percent and must seek to raise their share to four to five percent, Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik was quoted as saying by The Star .
In 1995, Malaysian ports handled only 2.5 million boxes or twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) but presently handled nine million TEUs, of which a major part were transshipment boxes, he said.
"Soon there will be 300 million boxes in the world and we must strive to achieve at least four percent, if not five percent of this volume which is 15 million boxes," Ling said.
"To achieve this, we need to invest RM4 billion more to increase our terminal capacity and ensure we have trained staff to move the additional volume."
Malaysia's ports need investment of more than RM3.8 billion to raise capacity and win a greater share of global trade, says Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, adding that the cash infusion will also ensure we have trained staff to move additional volume.
Malaysia's ports need investment of more than RM3.8 billion to raise capacity and win a greater share of global trade, a report said today.
Malaysian ports had grown from handling one percent of world trade to three percent and must seek to raise their share to four to five percent, Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik was quoted as saying by The Star.
In 1995, Malaysian ports handled only 2.5 million boxes or twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) but presently handled nine million TEUs, of which a major part were transshipment boxes, he said.
"Soon there will be 300 million boxes in the world and we must strive to achieve at least four percent, if not five percent of this volume which is 15 million boxes," Ling said.
"To achieve this, we need to invest RM4 billion more to increase our terminal capacity and ensure we have trained staff to move the additional volume."
Among top 20
Malaysia's main Klang Port has jumped from 26th largest port in the world to 12th in the last two years, and Ling said the Port of Tanjung Pelepas would soon be among the world's top 20.
PTP, which is in southern Johor state just across the narrow Tebrau Strait from Singapore, last week said it grew 30 percent year-on-year in 2002 and aimed to repeat the growth this year.
Singapore, which lost Denmark's Maersk Sealand and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine to PTP last year, has overhauled its shipping strategy, including cutting handling fees and offering shipping lines the opportunity to run their own berths. AFP
