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Last Updated: Sep 25th, 2006 - 11:36:04 |
Northport offers shippers in China wider options
June 19 2006
THE extensive global connectivity that Northport at Port Klang offers for importers and exporters in China is a major attraction for them to use the local port to reach China's expanding markets in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and the Middle East.
"With shipping lines offering more than 180 calls per month between Northport and 11 major ports in China, Northport is an obvious choice for importers and exporters or traders in China," said its assistant general manager of logistics services, Lim Seok Hua, in a statement.
Lim, who was in China recently with the trade mission led by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, said importers and exporters in China are impressed that Northport is well-linked to the major ports in China and the Asean market.
Malaysia, which accounts for 26 per cent of the intra-Asean trade, could become an important base for China to penetrate into the fast-expanding markets in the region.
Northport's total intra-Asia volume is 67 per cent.
The expanding connectivity in the Sino-Malaysia market is expected to grow further with the implementation of Asean-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The implementation of the agreement will create the world's largest FTA for developing countries, with 1.7 billion consumers and a regional gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$2 trillion (RM7.3 trillion).
During the visit, Rafidah had urged importers, exporters and traders in China to expand their trade in Asean by leveraging on Malaysia's strategic position and the linkages and the infrastructure network already established in the region.
She said Malaysia is experiencing significant growth in the area of manufacturing-related services.
Malaysia's strategic location and its well-developed and modern infrastructure, competitive operational costs, multilingual and trainable human resources as well as stable business and political environment, make it an increasingly popular choice for establishing regional operations.
To date, Malaysia has approved the operation of 164 international procurement centres and seven regional distribution centres.
"We at Northport Distripark offer a good platform for traders from China to set up their facilities within our Distripark at a minimal cost and offer excellent regional shipping connectivity to reach the Afta market which is estimated to have 550 million population and with a combined GDP exceeding US$750 billion (RM2.7 trillion)," said Lim.
Lim also pointed out that Northport's Distripark has been well recognised for handling halal products in the last two years.
"In fact, importers from China can use our facilities at our Distripark as the consolidation centre to reach out to final consumers markets in Asean or even the Middle East market," he added.
By leveraging on Northport Distripark, Chinese exporters of frozen meat can reach India or Middle East market in less than a week.
"Traders using Northport Distripark as their staging point can reduce transit time and also can meet any surge in demand within a short period," he added.
Lim said the Distripark is within the free commercial zone and therefore allows shippers to carry out value adding activities like re-packaging, re-grading, re- branding before re-export via our container terminal facilities.
The mission to China was part of Malaysia's on-going initiatives to deepen and widen collaborations in trade. The delegation had made various presentations in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Malaysia's direct trade with China has been growing significantly with exports valued at US$9.3 billion (RM33.94 billion).
Hong Kong continues to remain as an important conduit for Malaysia's trade with China. Almost 85 per cent of Malaysia's exports to Hong Kong in 2005 were re-exported to China.
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