PETALING JAYA: Japan’s NTT Limited is building its sixth data centre in Cyberjaya to support its expanding business in the region, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
In a Facebook post on Monday (Aug 1), he added that the Intra-Asia Express Cable that connects Japan, the Philippines, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia is also progressing well.
"We welcome this positive development and I am sure NTT will add much value to global cable connectivity and to related industries in Malaysia.
"I assured that the Transport Ministry will continue to facilitate cable owners including NTT to invest in Malaysia in an effort to enhance our global connectivity," he said.
Dr Wee was meeting with NTT Limited vice-president and network services director Yoshio Sato who is on a short work visit to Malaysia on Sunday (July 31).
NTT is the consortium leader that brought in two major Internet cables, the Apricot and MIST, connecting both coasts of Peninsular Malaysia.
"Despite criticisms of the Transport Ministry’s decision in November 2020 to reinstate the cabotage policy for foreign cable repair vessels, Sato was able to reassure us that the Apricot and MIST undersea cables were planned to complement each other from the very beginning to boost connectivity for Malaysia and the region," Dr Wee wrote.
At present, the national cabotage policy does not ban foreign-flagged vessels from repairing undersea cables in Malaysian waters.
Foreign vessels could enter Malaysian waters and need only to apply for an electronic domestic shipping licence before they could start work, a process that takes no more than three days for approval.
Introduced in January 1980, the former Pakatan Harapan government revoked the cabotage policy for cable repair works in April 2019, which exempted submarine cable maintenance vessels from applying for domestic shipping licence.
However, the cabotage policy was reintroduced by the Transport Ministry on Nov 16, 2020.
