Northport and Weifang Sime Darby Port to collaborate

A partial view of Weifang Port

KUALA LUMPUR: Northport (M) Bhd and Weifang Sime Darby Port Co Ltd have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a sister port relationship that will cooperate in port management and facilitate halal trade shipment between Malaysia and China.

In a joint statement on Monday, Northport and Weifang Sime Darby said under the collaboration, both parties would share experience, capabilities and resources in the field of port management and related activities.

“Both ports will also carry out joint commercial and promotional activities and establish the necessary facilities to attract companies in the shipping and related industries in Malaysia and China,” it said.

Northport chairman Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said the cooperation and collaboration was aimed at boosting the roles of both ports in conjunction with the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and the “One Belt, One Road” initiatives.

Sime Darby Bhd president and group chief executive Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said the partnership offered great potential to capture a slice of the fast-growing halal market.

“Halal is big business and this partnership aims to capture a market that is growing by 10% a year. Weifang Port is strategically located in the prime region of the Bohai Sea economic belt, offering a major access into China’’s hinterland,” he added.

Weifang Port, which is actively expanding its business into the halal industry, could also be a gateway and a future halal hub for the Korean and Japanese markets, the statement added.

Its close proximity to the “One Belt One Road” network provided an added advantage to the proposed “halal corridor” linking the Muslim regions in China, namely Henan, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang, which had an estimated combined Muslim population of more than 30 million people. - Bernama