Selangor sees Port Klang as ideal for second DFTZ

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor state government yesterday said Port Klang, the country’s largest port, is ideal for the development of the second Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), which could boost the port’s ranking to 10th largest container port in the world.

It is now the 12th largest container port in the world and the second-largest in Southeast Asia after Singapore. Selangor senior executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim said no other place in Malaysia is as suitable as Port Klang to house the next DFTZ, and that having a DFTZ in Port Klang will increase the cargo the port handles and attract more investments and logistic players there. In 2017, Port Klang handled 11,978,466 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers.

“This is our vision, [to have Port Klang] as the next DFTZ after the first DFTZ in KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), Sepang, took off. If the private sector shares the same vision with us, they can come out with [a] proposal. There is no reason why we are not going to pick up [the proposal] if it is workable and suitable,” Teng told reporters on the sidelines of an investment forum on the logistics industry entitled “Deeping Logistics Supply Chain in Selangor” here.

Teng was commenting on reports quoting the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation that investors were in talks with the government to  develop Port Klang and Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah as an e-commerce hub (e-hub).

“It is open to everyone. We believe in the open market, so we welcome everyone as we work hard to attract FDI (foreign direct investment) into the country,” he said, adding no proposals have been received so far on the e-hub.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 11, 2018.

For more stories, download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.