MALAYSIA must start to frame out new approaches to help maritime industry players and the whole supply chain management, acknowledging the risks associated with new global economic threats such as COVID-19.
The Association of Marine Industries of Malaysia (AMIM) said the policies to protect the industry were insufficient.
“Competition from international big players and declining global trade volumes are some of the challenges faced by the local companies.
“As Malaysia is very reliant on trade to lead its economic growth, it must have strong maritime industry to trim the outflow of currency due to the massive payment for foreign freight charges,” it said in a statement today.
The association lauded the Ministry of Transport’s move to revoke the cabotage exemption on foreign vessels and reduce the permit processing days for vessels to conduct cable repairs, saying that it was a welcome change for industry players.
In a post-COVID-19 world, localisation efforts can be supplemented further through joint government-industry efforts, it said.
“With the strong support and involvement of all stakeholders, government and industry alike, the maritime industry will be able to flourish and benefit the nation as a whole,” the association said.
AMIM added that the Government and government-linked companies should emphasis local built and make it mandatory requirement.
“We need to establish business-friendly policies that support the growth of the industry and adhere to this “Buy Malaysia First”, “Malaysian Made”, “Malaysian Build for Malaysia” Policy.
“We can optimise our cabotage policy and introduce a stringent law of cabotage policy where all vessels operating in Malaysian waters needs to be designed, built, owned, financed, crewed and repaired in Malaysia,” it added. – Dec 4, 2020
