b'32American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(HOPEFULcontinued fromASEAN shipping experts.This trend page 28) isalsovisibleinotherneighboring improvements have been made, therecountries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, arestillmajorbottlenecksininlandand Cambodia.HWYH2O.COMtransportinfrastructureinSoutheastTheASEANmembercountries Asia, as firms frequently need to buildalso need to further strengthen coop-their own connecting solutions whicheration with each other in port matters. can raise the overall costs.HandlingThisaspectwasunderscoredduring breakbulkcargointhesecountriesthe 41st Working Committee Meeting requires specific resources. The inland(WCM) of the ASEAN Ports Asso-logisticschallengescanoftenbeanciation (APA) held in July 2022 and area that is overlooked.hosted by Vietnam, with participants ASEAN representatives are awarefromBrunei,Cambodia,Malaysia, that the 10 member nation groupingMyanmar,Philippines,Singapore, has considerable work to do to raiseThailand, and Vietnam. and upgrade its infrastructure whichTheWCMchairman,Nguyen willbenefitbreakbulkandprojectUyenMinh,whoisalsothedeputy cargo service providers. InfrastructuregeneraldirectoroftheSaigonPort development will drive growth in allAuthority,emphasizedtheneedfor cargosegmentstransportedbetweenclose cooperation among APA mem-Southeast Asia and China which hasberstoovercomethedifficulties emerged as the ASEAN regions big- resulting from the continuing effects gest trading partner. ofthepandemic,theUkraineinva-Unevenlevelofinfrastructuresion,soaringfuelandfreightcosts, isnoticeablebetweenindividualand rising inflation. ASEAN member states; an exampleLeTuanAnh,DirectorGeneralW I T H O U R N E W A N Dof this uneven level of infrastructureof International Cooperation Depart-development can be seen in Indonesiament,MinistryofTransportationofI M P R O V E D G A T E W A Yand Malaysia. Indonesia has about 10Vietnam,urgedtheAPAtoassumeI N C E N T I V E , T H E R E H A Stimes the population of Malaysia, butmore responsibilities and obligationsN E V E R B E E N A B E T T E Ronlyone-tenthoftheinfrastructure;inpromotingsustainabledevelop- T I M E T O S T A R T S H I P P I N GIndonesia has a lot of catching up toment of maritime and ports commu- O N T H E G R E A T L A K E SO N T H E G R E A T L A K E Sdo.Logistics experts say that Indone- nity in the region.W I T H H W Y H Osia will need to ship large volumes of2equipment and this, in the final analy- asean p ortssis, means that it will be relying heav- While Singapores port is the big-ily on breakbulk services.gest in the region and, in fact, one of the five top ports of the world, Malaysia is work-ingtowardsstrengthen-ingitspositioninthe region,projectingitself astheGatewaytothe ASEANmarket,andFor more information:highlightingitsloca- 1-905-641-0309 or email [email protected] at the confluence of theintercontinentaland intra-Asianmaritime trade routes through theone of the biggest port facilities in thewith exports of commodities such as Strait of Malacca.world, besides being a transshipmenttimber,automobiles,rubber,liquid In an interview withhuboftheAsianregionandapre- bulk such as latex, palm and coconut the American Journal offerred point of entry into the ASEANoil, petroleum goods, fuel, and con-Transportation,Nelsonmarket, he said.tainerizedgoods.Ithandlesimports Samuel,thedirectorofMalaysiastoptwoports,Portofsteelcoils,rods,wires,billets, Nelson Samuel, the director of the New York office of thetheNew YorkofficeofKlangnearKualaLumpur,andthefruits, grains, machine equipment etc. Malaysian Investment Development Authority the Malaysian InvestmentPortofTanjungPelepas(PTP)inHowever,thePTPinJohor,though Development Authority,Johor,areexpectedtoboosttheirposting strong growth in cargo ship-Indonesia has already been import- which promotes investment to Malay- capacitytosupportthegrowthments,dealsmainlywithcontainer-inglargevolumesofcapitalequip- sia,emphasizedMalaysiascrucialrecorded by Malaysian ports, thanksized goods. ment, goods, and big bulk materials forshippinganddistributionlocationtostrongdemandforcommoditiesWhilePortKlangandPTPpri-infrastructureprograms,accordingtoin the ASEAN region. Malaysia hasand other products.Port Klang dealsmarily serve East-West routes such as China to Europe, Penang Ports focus ismainlyontheBayofBengal.A multifunctional port, it deals with all kinds of conventional cargo, dry and liquid bulk, apart from containers. The setting up of new factories in Penang could help drive exports and shipment. Johor port, situated at the south-erntipoftheMalaysianPeninsula, near Johor strait, is an important mari-time gateway for the country as it lies in the industrial region of Pasir Gudang whichhousesmajorindustrieslike engineering, petrochemicals, electrical goods, furniture and packaged food, the MIDA director explained.This multipurpose port deals with all kinds of cargoes through its numer-ousdrybulk,liquidbulk,andcon-tainerhandlingfacilities. Theportis famous for its expansive storage space forkeepingpalmoilandisamajor exporter of petrochemical goods.PortsarecrucialforMalaysias foreigntradeanditsexport-oriented economy. Malaysias maritime industry contributes about 40% to the countrys GDP and more than 90% of Malaysias trade is seaborne, Samuel said.'