Malaysia Maju 2020

Malaysia, is a federation consisting of thirteen independent states which include Perlis Indera Kayangan, Kedah Darul Aman, Penang The Pearl Island, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Kelantan Darul Naim, Terengganu Darul Iman, Pahang Darul Makmur, Johor Darul Takzim, The Historical State of Melaka, Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Sabah The Land Below The Wind, and Sarawak the Land of the Hornbills; together with the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. The capital and largest city is Kuala Lumpur, while the seat of government administration is in Putrajaya. Labuan is designated as an offshore financial centre. Malaysia is the third largest economy in South East Asia, with the third highest GDP per capita. It is an advance emerging market nation, with a population of 28 million people and the leader in Islamic financial services in the world. Malaysia aspires to become a developed, high-income nation by the year 2020, when it aims to achieve per capita GDP of US$15,000, from US$8,000 now.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Dr Mahathir hits out Singapore

Malaysia does not sabotage Singapore by developing its own ports, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In his letter to Utusan Malaysia today, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia said that it is not wrong for an independent country like Malaysia and Indonesia to develop their own ports.

According to him, what Malaysia and Indonesia did was not an act of sabotaging the Singapore port, but as a competition to the latter.

Singapore's Port operation is said to be affected by the growing and fast developing ports on southern Johore, such as the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and the Johor Port at Pasir Gudang.

PTP for instance, set the world record as the fastest growing port with 1 million twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) in just 571 days of operation in 2000. This is due to its strategic location which is on the busy sea lanes of which the Port of Singapore derived its growth.

Previously, there was also call from MMC Corp, a power-to-ports conglomerate which owns both ports (Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Pelepas) to the government for a consolidation between the operation of both ports. According to persons who are informed with the proposal, the consolidated operation between both ports could pose a greater competition to Port of Singapore in the medium to long term.

PTP and Johore Port could become the alternative choice to Port of Singapore based on their competitive rates and efficient container handling and throughput. This is reaffirmed by the growing sea liners which opted to dock at PTP such as MAERSK, Evergreen and CMA-CGM, which are three of the world largest sea liners.

The government should play more roles in promoting PTP and Johore Port as the choice ports in South East Asia. More investments should be injected into expanding the ports berthing facility and also for increasing the connectivity between the ports to the rest of Asia.

With the area of southern Johore being gazetted as the next growth region for the country through the implementation of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), there are much more potential for both ports to expand and increased in prominence as the next international port destination in Asia. 

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