KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia must start to frame new approaches to support maritime industry players and supply chain management, taking into account the risks associated with global threats to the economy, including Covid-19.
The Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia (Amim), in a statement today, said the policies to protect the industry are insufficient.
“Competition from big international players and declining global trade volumes are some of the challenges faced by local companies.
“As Malaysia is very reliant on trade to lead its economic growth, it must have a strong maritime industry to trim the outflow of currency due to the massive payment for foreign freight charges.”
Amim lauded the Transport Ministry’s move to revoke the cabotage exemption for foreign vessels and reduce the permit processing period for ships conducting cable repairs.
In a post-pandemic world, it said, localisation efforts can be supplemented with government-industry undertakings.
“With the strong support and involvement of all stakeholders, the government and industry alike, the maritime industry will be able to flourish and benefit the nation as a whole.”
It said Putrajaya and government-linked companies should emphasise local build and make it mandatory.
“We need to establish business-friendly policies that support the growth of the industry, and adhere to the Buy Malaysian First, Malaysian Made, and Malaysian Build for Malaysia policy.
“We can optimise our cabotage policy and introduce a stringent law on this policy, where all vessels operating in Malaysian waters need to be designed, built, owned, financed, crewed and repaired in Malaysia.” – Bernama, December 4, 2020
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