Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : ONBOARD MV STAR PISCES, LANGKAWI
Tarikh/Date : 04/12/97
Tajuk/Title : MALAYSIA' S FIRST INTERNATIONAL
MARITIME CONFERENCE
1. I wish to thank the organisers, the Royal Malaysian
Navy and Huswah Exhibition services for inviting me
today to officiate this First International Maritime
Conference. Unlike the first conference which was an
all Malaysian public sector affair, I am happy to note
that this conference involves both the local and foreign
private sectors of the maritime industry. The theme of
the conference `The Making Of Malaysia As A Maritime
Nation' is appropriate and relevant as it highlights
Malaysia's aspiration to be a maritime nation in the
true sense.
2. At the outset, I feel there is a need to remind
ourselves that more than two thirds of the earth's
surface area is covered by water. The sea has all along
been an important part of human livelihood and today it
remains as an important source of food, energy and means
of communication where more than 95 percent of
international trade transportation is sea-borne. With
the depletion of resources on land and the rapid
industrialisation that is taking place, the sea is set
to become even more important. Men are now turning to
the sea for space to accommodate the ever-growing
population. Still the growing importance of the sea to
mankind is probably best gauged from the compromise
amongst nations that had made United Nations Conference
on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) an accepted international
law. As of today 120 countries have ratified UNCLOS.
3. Because of our history and the close proximity of
many Malaysians to the sea we are inclined to regard
Malaysia as a maritime nation. We are situated on the
trade routes between India and China, between Europe and
the East and naturally served as a port of call between
monsoons for supplies and crew for all ships plying this
route. Given the importance of the maritime role and
technological innovations, the term maritime nation
itself needs to be redefined. A country cannot claims
itself to be a maritime nation merely by virtue of
attributes such as suitable geographical position,
physical conformation or strength of population as
propounded by Admiral Alfred T Mahan in the 19th
century. These geographical attributes or a glorious
maritime history do not automatically make a country a
maritime nation. In fact some of the great maritime
nations are not those blessed with such maritime
attributes. Of course those blessed with natural
maritime attributes would have an advantage over those
without. It is inconceivable for a land-locked country
like Mongolia to have a big shipping fleet when it does
not even have a harbour to berth its ships.
4. A true maritime nation is one which has the
capability to fully exploit its God given maritime
endowments to enhance its socio-economic standing among
the community of nations. In this regard, though
Malaysia has all the makings of a maritime nation,
strategically located at the centre of shipping lane and
a large sea area rich in fishery, oil and gas resources,
it has yet to optimise all these attributes to qualify
as a maritime nation in the true sense of the word.
5. Efforts to transform Malaysia into a true maritime
nation began in earnest only about two decades ago.
Since then the maritime industry has been recognised as
an increasingly important sector in the Malaysian
economy. Malaysia's Second Outline Perspective Plan
(OPP2) clearly describes the potential role of the
maritime sector to the long-term growth and development
of the country especially in creating new and non-
traditional marine based and related economic activities
until the year 2000 and beyond.
6. In terms of volume, about 98 percent of Malaysia's
international trade is currently handled by sea. Out of
this, exports accounted for about 80 percent of the GDP,
whilst imports accounted for about 75 percent of the
GNP. Based on this, the efficiency of the maritime
transportation system involving shipping and ports, is
not only vital for trade but also to ensure the
continuity of the nations's economic growth.
7. However, despite its importance, only about 15
percent of Malaysia's trade is transported by the
Malaysian Mercantile Fleet. To encourage the growth of
the Malaysian Mercantile Fleet, a shipping fund of RM800
million was launched in 1992 to provide long term
financial assistance to the shipping industry. The fund
comprises the Shipping Venture Facility (SVF) and Ship
Financing Facility (SFF). In 1994 and 1997, the fund
was provided with an additional allocation of RM500
million. Whilst our fleet has expanded from 1,934
million GRT in 1990 to 3,597 million GRT last year,
further expansion is necessary to cope with the
increasing volume of trade and at the same time
minimising our dependence on foreign shipping.
8. Over the years, in tandem with the growth of
Malaysia's trade, the volume of goods handled by all
these ports has seen a steady growth. The tonnage
increased from a mere 60,382 million tonnes in 1985 to
146,057 million tonnes ten years later. The increase in
tonnage handled and the number of ships calling in can
be attributed to, among others, policies of enhancing
the utilisation of existing facilities, improvements and
expansion in port infrastructure, privatisation as well
as efforts made by the government and private sector to
promote direct trade to the rest of the world. New
ports have been and are being built, and existing ones
expanded and modernised. Amongst the new ports under
development are the Klang West Port and Johore West
Port. The combined capacities of these ports when
completed will be 140,000 dwt or a total berthing space
of 6,800 metres.
9. Ancillary services supporting the ports and
shipping sectors such as services covering ship
bunkering, insurance, legal, shipping agencies, banking
and ship financing, freight forwarding and hauliers
among others are improving very slowly with time. The
lack of expertise in these sectors is seen to be a
drawback in the development of the maritime industry.
The government is determined to improve the prevailing
situation within the ancillary services.
10. Aside from shipping and port activities, Malaysia
also depends upon offshore economic activities such as
extraction of petroleum and gas, fisheries and tourism.
The petroleum industry is the main offshore activity.
Since its pioneering development in the early 1970's,
this sector has grown significantly to contribute
towards the development of the Malaysian economy. The
amount of oil reserves which has been identified is
expected to last more than a decade. While the
country's natural gas reserves is estimated to last for
the next 70 years, exploration continues to identify new
areas of oil and gas reserves as well as other minerals.
The contribution from this sector this year is expected
to be more than seven percent of the GDP.
11. The fishing industry too, has expanded immensely.
It is still an important source of income particularly
for the coastal population. Despite being a net
exporter of fish and fish products in terms of value,
Malaysia is yet to realise its true potential. Potential
investors are now encouraged to venture into offshore
fish farming a new area which is very promising.
12. The country's long beautiful beaches and outlying
islands also offer attraction for tourists. Last year
tourism was Malaysia's second highest revenue earner
after manufacturing. Generating a revenue of RM11.2
billion, the development of offshore islands and water
front areas as major tourist destinations have been
given priority by the Government as well as the private
sector. This is evident from the emergence of a flush
of tour operators catering for specialised recreational
needs such as scuba diving and sport fishing over the
recent years. One of the highlights of this sector is
the growth of leisure boating and cruise industries.
More marinas are being built and more cruise vessels now
operate from Malaysia and within her waters. Indeed,
lest we forget, we are right now having our conference
onboard a cruise vessel. It is hoped that cruise ships
will be considered as a viable alternative venues to
conference organisers in the future. The Government
will continue to encourage the promotional efforts to
boost investments in tourism industry particularly at a
time when the Ringgit is relatively cheap as well as
providing necessary infrastructures to help stimulate
further growth to this industry.
13. The Government's decision to turn Labuan Island
into a prominent financial offshore centre reflects the
tremendous prospects of offshore economic activities.
Incentives offered by this centre will undoubtedly
stimulate the growth of maritime economic activities.
14. The number and capacity of local shipbuilding and
repair yards have also increased manifold to cope with
the rising level of activities. The acquisition of new
assets and the eventual launching of the Navy's patrol
vessels project are expected to further stimulate
shipbuilding and ship repair activities whilst enhancing
indigenous technical know-how through a comprehensive
transfer of technology. In this field of high
technology, it is hoped that the Navy will play a more
significant role in initiating warship design, building
and repairs. This would eventually enable the
development of local capabilities in the field of naval
architecture, marine engineering, marine and aerospace
communication, defence electronics and systems
integration among others.
15. In as far as security is concerned, I can assure
all of you that the Government will make every effort to
ensure that your investments are safe and sound. Let's
not allow the occasional reports of piracy create an
inaccurate impression of the overall security situation
of the region. Piracies or robberies at sea are
isolated incidents which occur occasionally everywhere.
They need close regional cooperation among nations to
tackle the problem. This is exactly what is being done
between the security agencies of Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia. The cooperation has borne results where
piracy incidents in the Malacca Straits for instance,
have drastically declined from 32 cases in 1991 to eight
cases in 1996. Another effort to enhance safety and
security of coastal waters is through the installation
of a RM100 million Sea Surveillance System (SSS). Apart
from regulating traffic flow, the system is also capable
of monitoring vessels suspected of having criminal
intent. The first phase of the project along the
Malacca Straits is already in place and is currently
undergoing trials.
16. The healthy growth in maritime industry however
does not go without challenge. Growth implies a
tremendous pressure on the limited human resources in
the industry. Not only is recruiting the right candidate
a problem, but retaining trained personnel in sea
related careers is even more problematic. Though we
were once renowned seafarers, as portrayed by men like
Panglima Awang or Henry the Black who along with
Magellan circumnavigated the globe, unfortunately we
have somehow lost this trait. The long years under
colonial rule have perhaps made us landlubbers with a
distinct dislike for being away from home for any length
of time.
17. As it is not possible to force people to take up
maritime related careers, the Government on its part is
trying to revive the nation's seafaring culture. This
includes inculcating maritime values among school
children through extra curricular activities like sea
cadet corps. For the youths, we are now actively
embarking on the `Tunas Samudera' sailing programme run
by the Navy in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth
and Sports and the Education Ministry. Other efforts
include promoting
activities like sailing competitions and exhibitions
such as LIMA.
18. As building up the pool of trained human resources
to take up maritime related jobs takes time, I would
like to urge the maritime community to concurrently look
at other complementary solutions. One option worth
looking into is making the maritime industry less labour
intensive. In line with our Multimedia Super Corridor
Project, the industry should look into the possibility
of incorporating more IT based technology and
automation. I am glad to note that the Navy is now
seriously looking into the `Smart Ship' concept. As
proven by some advanced navies, this concept has enabled
them to reduce annual operating costs by about 10
percent through a reduction in manpower by more than
thirty percent.
19. I would like to reiterate that Malaysia has all
the makings of a true maritime nation. However, some of
our God given heritage have yet to be optimised. In
some areas they are still under explored. Thus,
opportunities for investors in the maritime sector are
abundant, be it in shipping, ancillary and port
services, tourism or in the fishing industry. For its
part, the Government encourages the growth of this
sector, and this includes efforts to create more
infrastructures like ports and highways and financial
incentives in the form of shipping funds to boost the
industry. To complement the government's human
resources development efforts, the private sector is
urged to look into technological innovations that could
make the maritime industry less labour intensive.
20. On that note I have great pleasure in declaring
`Malaysia's International Maritime Conference 1997'
open.
|
|