Malaysia’s Kuantan Port blooms into strategic trading hub
11 Apr 2023
Kuantan Port on Malaysia’s east coast has grown from a minor berth into an increasingly important trading hub, connecting the country with East Asian markets, reported Xinhua.
Having been previously sidelined unlike the major ports along the country’s west coast facing the Malacca Straits, the port has grown into prominence as it is now being connected to the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) and will be connected to the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Malaysia’s mega rail project being built by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).
In a recent interview, Kuantan Port Chief Executive Officer Vino Kumar Selvabalakrishnan told Xinhua that greater interconnectivity with the MCKIP industrial hubs and the ECRL has allowed the port to tap into the booming East Asian markets, where Malaysian commodities and manufactured goods are in high demand.
Commenting on the expansion and modernisation of the port, Vino Kumar said the deepwater terminal being built for the port would greatly enhance commerce by allowing larger ships with a deeper draft to dock at the port.
Vino Kumar had been to Ningbo in east China’s Zhejiang province. He had seen the Chinese shipping industry firsthand and stressed the importance ports have on stimulating economic growth, citing China’s construction of massive ports that had opened up access to its markets and allowed Chinese manufactured products to be shipped to the global market.
He added that Malaysia would benefit greatly from such an approach.
The MCKIP is a key Belt and Road cooperation project and a demonstration base for cross-border industrial capacity cooperation. The MCKIP, together with the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park situated in China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has set an innovative example of bilateral economic cooperation under the model of “Two Countries, Twin Parks.”
Source: Bernama
