Malaysia wants ships to bypass S'pore

Malaysia wants ships to bypass S'pore

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian shipping agents are rallying
behind a call by local port authorities to bypass Singapore in
favor of Malaysia's Port Klang, the head of an industry
association said yesterday.

"We should boycott Singapore. It is high time we helped expand
our nation's maritime capabilities," V. Muthiah, president of
Port Klang Shipping Agencies Association, told AFP.

"It is not an emotional plea but more of a nationalistic
call," he said, confirming a main headline story in Malaysia's
Star newspaper that shipping agents were pressing local importers
and exports to skip Singapore.

Currently, about 30 percent of Malaysian cargo is exported via
Singapore and many firms here still use the island republic to
import goods into Malaysia. There is growing economic rivalry
between the two neighbors.

Port Klang, Malaysia's largest port, has long been under the
shadow of Singapore but has embarked on an expansion and
modernization plan in a bid to be one of the world's 10 busiest
container ports at the turn of the century.

Muthiah said Malaysia lost over 10 million ringgit (US$4
million) in port revenues and customs duties a month because
locally manufactured goods were exported through Singapore.

The association, which represents about 80 percent of shipping
agents in the country, recently unanimously agreed to give
Singapore port "a pass," he said.

"We have urged our members to open their letters of credit
(LC) via local banks here and that Port Klang should be used as
the loading port," he said.

Asked why shippers and forwarders continued using Singapore,
Muthiah said it could be due to traditional factors and not
because Port Klang was less efficient.

"Traditionally, in those days, most of the buying was made
through Singapore and Singapore banks issued the LC," he said.

The owner of a shipping agency said Monday that his company
would support the association's call to use Port Klang.

"We have more space, more land, good infrastructure and more
mother ships are already calling at Port Klang," S. Segaran,
managing director of MH Agency Sdn. Bhd.

Segaran, however, pointed out that the Malaysian manufacturers
and the freight forwarders had a important role to play if the
government's desire to see Port Klang emerge as a premier port
was to be realized.

"The government is already giving all the assistance, it is
now up to the private sector to play their role," he said.
Muthiah said the government was strongly supporting the growth of
Port Klang and was quick to address any complaints of the
shipping industry.

Citing the National Steering Committee on Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) as an example, he said, officers of the various
related government agencies were sensitive to any problems
related to the port.

Klang Port Authority chairman Michael Chen had said in a
recent interview that the premier port's ultimate aim was to
become a regional hub.

He forecast that cargo volumes would double in five years with
the expansion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), which is now slashing tariffs to create a free trade
area.

ASEAN now groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is expected to admit Burma,
Cambodia and Laos this year.

Chen said Port Klang, which currently handles 50 million
tons of cargo and twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of
container traffic, had moved from the world's 57th busiest port
in 1980 to 26th in 1995.