Malaysia´s maritime industry is on track to become one of the key hubs in Southeast Asia, apart from Singapore, due to its competitiveness and the availability of land to expand the ports, reported Business Times.

Malaysia Investment Development Authority (Mida) chief executive officer Noharuddin Nordin said while Singapore was the leading maritime hub at the moment, but due to the country's size and limited space, it would face challenges in accommodating more containers.

Ports in Malaysia, he said, had very large hinterland that could be developed to accommodate the growing volume of containers coming into the Southeast Asia region.

"We are fast catching up with Singapore... it's not just in terms of our ability to accommodate volume but also the efficiency of the services provided by our ports," he said.

There are several key ports in Malaysia that were already matching the capacity of those in Singapore, said Noharuddin.
They include Northport and Westport in Klang, Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Johor, and Penang Port in Penang.

Meanwhile, Transport Ministry secretary-general, Long See Wool, said there were many players in the logistics industry that could work together to become more efficient and competitive and thus enhance the industry as a whole.

"Some countries in this region are very strong in terms of their logistics industry. So, of course, we are moving towards that," he said.

The European Union-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, David Jones, added that one of the areas of improvement in the local logistics industry was to have better connectivity between the various modes of transportation.

Source: Cargonews Asia