NBCT to be gazetted as Free Trade Zone starting Feb 1

NBCT to be gazetted as Free Trade Zone starting Feb 1

29 Jan 2021

The North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) will be gazetted as a free trade zone starting Feb 1, said Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng.

Tan hoped that subsequently Penang Port would grow at the international level to be the port of choice for foreign investors.

“With the efforts of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong as well as Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, it is finally agreed for NBCT to be gazetted as a free trade zone under the Free Zone Act 1990.

The zone would be divided into a free trade zone for trade and commercial activities and a free industrial zone for manufacturing activities,” he said in a statement today.

He believed this would also create more job opportunities and boost the manufacturing industry.

Tan said PPC and Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) would strive to improve the port services to attract more foreign investors to use the port and set up factories in Penang.

He added that foreign companies can also use the facilities in the free trade zone and export to other countries.

“Since they can enjoy services without paying excise and customs duties, sales and services tax except for certain goods, under the Free Zone (Exclusion of goods and services) Order 1998, the goods can be exported at lower prices,” he said.

He said PPC has also promised that comprehensive steps would be taken by the free trade zone to attract foreign investors to expand trade in the zone.

“As the free trade zone provides commercial facilities, including efficient delivery and storage services as well as providing incentive policies, we are confident that more investors from all over the world would come to conduct value added activities such as bulk breaking, grading, re-labelling, transit and entrepot trade,” he said.

Source: Bernama