Malaysia and China in sister port pact

Contributions remembered: Kong presenting a plaque and a gift as tokens of appreciation to retired staff Aazame Abdul Ghani (centre) at the Port Klang Authority Raya open house. At right is the PKA general manager Datuk Kapt David Padman.

PORT KLANG: Malaysia and China are poised to see a boost in trade, logistics and tourism with the formation of friendship ports bet­ween the two nations.

Malaysia’s Port Klang is establishing sister-port relationships with seven ports in Chi­na, namely in Shanghai, Ningbo, Tianjin, Guang­zhou, Xiamen, Dalian and Fuzhou.

Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman Tan Sri Kong Cho Ha said that letters of intent for such cooperation had been signed with most of the ports and already formalised with the Ningbo and Dalian ports.

The relationship will boost development in both nations greatly in terms of trade, logistics and tourism.

“This is in line with the China Initiative - 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which has made Port Klang one of the most important ports in support of this initiative, he said when met after a Hari Raya open house event here yesterday.

Kong said that PKA was expecting a visit from the officials of the Guangzhou port in August to formalise the sister-port relationship, while the agreements with other ports were expected to be completed by the end of October.

“The Straits of Malacca is an important sea trade route with busy traffic at the international level and it is also a transportation hub with competitive prices offered compared to other similar hubs in the southeast Asia region,” he said.

Kong also said that with increasing Chinese tourist arrivals, Kota Kinabalu and Malacca – popular and well-known among the China nationals – had the potential to tap into the sea cruise market by having cruise terminals built at their coastal areas.