PUTRAJAYA: A RM200 mil truck and inland clearance depot (ICD) will be developed as part of the Kota Perdana Special Border Economic Zone (SBEZ) in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah.
The 20.2ha Bukit Kayu Hitam ICD will be developed and managed by a newly-formed joint venture company, Bukit Kayu Hitam ICD Sdn Bhd, a 60:40 partnership between PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and Northern Gateway Sdn Bhd.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng witnessed the signing of a strategic partnership between Northern Gateway Logistic Center Sdn Bhd and One Northern Hub Sdn Bhd here on Dec 3.
Northern Gateway Logistic is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northern Gateway, which in turn is a wholly-owned entity of Minister of Finance Incorporated, while One Northern Hub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PKT Logistics Group.
Lim said the government is supporting the development by providing RM25 mil in 2019 and another RM50 mil in 2020 to build external infrastructure like roads and utilities to make the depot a success.
The project, according to him, will improve Malaysia and Thailand’s trade as the kingdom is currently Malaysia’s fifth largest trading partner globally with a total trade value of RM105.4 bil in 2018.
“About 70% of this value is attributed to trade across the land border, with the Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao crossing taking centrestage,” he added.
PKT Logistics Group chairman Datuk Jalilah Baba said the ICD project will be in three phases, with the groundbreaking expected in the first half of next year and the development slated for completion in 2022.
The ICD, linked to the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security complex, will cater for an annual throughput of 200,000 containers along the warehouses and cross-dock facilities for cargo consolidation and container stuffing, she added.
“With an integrated and sustainable ICD at Bukit Kayu Hitam, we aim to attract more of south Thailand’s transshipment cargo through Malaysian ports by making all cross-border truck processes for shipping lines, forwarders and customs clearance agents as efficient as it can be,” Jalilah said.
The ICD would be self-sustaining as it would also contain a petrol station and a multi-storey tower providing office space, a logistics institute and recreational facilities to cater to the needs of truckers, she added. – Bernama
