Kuala Lumpur: In order to spur the development of the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, Malaysian and Chinese investors will pump in at least RM3 billion in a joint effort to deepen and expand Kuantan Port.
The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting said currently, the depth of Kuantan Port was not sufficient to accommodate large vessels and the Chinese Government recognised that the port needed to be deepened to allow for the loading and unloading of goods by large vessels.
He said the Chinese Government took a serious view of Kuantan Industrial Park which will be launched in early February and it has also pledged to give its full support to the deepening and expansion of Kuantan Port.
Tan Sri Ong explained to Nanyang Siang Pau in an interview that Kuantan Port was strategic to Kuantan Industrial Park and the deepening and expansion of the port is critical to the full development of the park.
“It must be emphasized that allowing the Chinese to participate in the development of our port is indeed an exceptional case. It is a historical breakthrough in the bilateral co-operation between Malaysia and China,” he said.
Tan Sri Ong further explained that the timing of the port development project would depend on mutual agreement. However, judging by the speed and efficiency shown by the Chinese, he believed that work would start soon.
He was also happy to reveal that following the twinning of Qinzhou Industrial Park and Kuantan Industrial Park, Qinzhou Port which is strategically located on Beibu Gulf facing the South China Sea and Kuantan Port will also go twinning soon.
“Even though the two ports are on different scales, they share many similarities and they can complement each other in a win-win situation.”
He said the two ports were now working towards this special relationship and once the deepening and expansion of Kuantan Port is completed, the twinning will be realized very soon.
Source: Nanyang Siang Pau
Translated by Hoo Ban Khee.
