SAYING Malaysia must stay ahead of the logistics game, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the government has lined up 12 projects worth more than RM12.75 billion to address the “bottlenecks” at the country’s main ports and airports.
A further RM34.03 billion worth of rail, road, port and airport-related investments are under study to make Malaysia a preferred logistics gateway in the region, he said.
A third container port in Port Klang, besides West Port and Northport, is among the big projects being considered, Liow told the New Sunday Times in an interview.
Another two are the proposed 550km East Coast Railway Line linking Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan and Tumpat, and the Serendah-Port Klang rail loop line bypassing KL Sentral, he said.
“At the end of the day, we want our logistics sector to become a regional footprint. We want to be a regional hub,” the 54-year-old Liow said.
Liow’s next game plan is to beef up Malaysia’s logistics sector, key to driving the country’s trade-dependent economy. As transport minister, he chairs the multi-agency National Logistics Task Force.
The task force oversees the Logistics and Trade Masterplan, a road map rolled out by the Najib administration to tackle the so-called “bottlenecks” at ports and airports that hinder the smooth flow of exports and imports.
Liow said the Transport Ministry is committed to supporting the growth of the nation’s logistics industry, key in facilitating trade and boosting economic growth.
The task force’s job is to tackle both the hardware and the software issues in the logistics sector. These include “de-bottlenecking” of port and airport facilities and cutting back on red tape that slows trade.
Port efficiency is one area of concern.
He said according to Frost and Sullivan’s 2014 study on ease of doing business, Malaysia was ranked fifth, Hong Kong second and Singapore No. 1.
“But when we study the efficiency of ports, there are four documents required to enter Malaysian ports. This compares with three in Singapore,” he said.
On physical infrastructure, he said, the task force has proposed to upgrade road and rail links, especially to Port Klang, Malaysia’s busiest port and the world’s 12th biggest.
“We talk about de-bottlenecking the situation at the ports, at the warehouse. We have very narrow roads to the ports, the need to upgrade the railway lines (to the ports) and the problem of the systems themselves.
“As such as need to decongest our ports, especially Port Klang. In Port Klang, we are upgrading the junction at Bandar Sultan Sulaiman and North Port Gate 2, we are building a bridge across the railway track at Jalan Pelabuhan Utara and upgrading the Pulau Indah highway phase one and two. The total cost would be RM1.13 billion.”
He said the government also proposed to build the RM4 billion Pulau Indah Ring Road to help ease congestion.
“We also need to build the Serendah-Port Klang railway line, so that we can decongest the railway line. We shall not allow freight trains to pass through KL Sentral.
“The project is under study and is likely to cost a few billion ringgit. These will help our ports to be more efficient,” he said.
Liow expects the logistics sector’s contribution to gross domestic product to rise to 4.3 per cent by 2020 from 3.6 per cent currently. He said the government welcomed new players to the logistics sector to help drive the growth.
“We are pushing for growth and it is a very important growth for us.
“I welcome new players. The industry is not saturated. Our ports are expanding fast. We have good maritime laws. We work with China. China wants to tap our laws and also our strategic (shipping) position.
“We have opened up the Kuantan port and will expand it into a deep-sea port by 2017. We invested about RM3 billion.
“We are building Melaka Gateway port with an investment of RM30 billion. We need more people to come into this sector.”
Liow said a study was now under way to expand Port Klang’s capacity. That might include developing a new third container port besides West Port and Northport.
“The ministry and the EPU (Economic Planning Unit) are studying the whole Port Klang activities. While waiting for the results of the study, we have asked West Port to hold on to its expansion plan.
“But we want an overall plan, including whether we need the third port on Carey Island, whether we can build another port at Carey Island,” he said.
The World Bank and EPU consultants have submitted a second interim report. A third interim report is still pending.
“Singapore is building the Tuas (mega) port with 60 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units). Singapore is doing about 30 million TEUs now.
“Malaysia cannot rest on its laurels. We have to work hard now,” he said. Additional reporting by Siti
Nursuraya Ali