Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : ULSAN, KOREA
Tarikh/Date : 28/12/91
Tajuk/Title : THE NAMING AND DELIVERY CEREMONY OF
BUNGA PELANGI
Mr. S.I. Choi,
President of Hyundai Heavy Industries;
Y.M. Raja Tan Sri Muhammad Alias Raja Muhammad Ali,
Chairman of MISC;
Honourable guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like to thank the Chairman and members of the
Board of MISC for inviting my wife and I to officiate at the
Naming and Delivery Ceremony for Bunga Pelangi, the latest
and largest addition to the Corporation's fleet of
containerships. I had the pleasure of officiating at a
similar ceremony to welcome the maiden call of Bunga Siantan
to Port Kelang in March this year.
2. The Board of MISC should be congratulated on their
brave decision to embark on a policy of fleet expansion and
enhancement in response to the call by the Government to
increase the tonnage of Malaysia-owned and operated ships
in order to support Malaysia's rapidly growing industrial
development and the diversification of Malaysia's trading
partners and products.
3. Many new industrial ventures are currently being set up
in Malaysia having been attracted by our rich primary
resources, the favourable economic climate, political
stability and the ready availability of trained manpower as
well as good infrastructure facilities. We expect that more
value-added manufactured goods will be generated by these
industries for export overseas to meet the growing demand.
4. We realise that it is essential that industrial
development should be matched by corresponding growth in
the transport sector, particularly in shipping services
which are essential for the efficient transportation and
delivery of our exports at economical rates so that our
exports can remain competitive.
5. In Malaysia it is becoming more apparent that our
shipping services have not been growing at as rapid a pace
as that shown by industrial development and widening trade
relations. Since we lack the necessary facilities, we
continue to depend on foreign shipping lines to carry the
bulk of our manufactured products and other commodities for
exports.
6. Although this is understandable, especially for a
developing country like Malaysia, in which international
shipping is highly competitive and highly capital intensive,
it is nevertheless vital that some measures be introduced to
check the situation. Otherwise, it will negate much of the
gain from industrialisation and exportation.
7. The extensive utilisation of foreign shipping to carry
our own domestic products for export is undesirable as this
would exacerbate our growing freight deficit and insurance
bill, the so-called invisibles.
8. In this context, I would like to see more Malaysians
venturing into the field of international shipping. They
should not be content with operating always in the
relatively sheltered domestic sector where they are
protected from competition from foreign shipping lines by
our cabotage policy. They should treat participation in
domestic shipping as a valuable learning experience from
which they should aspire to graduate into the more
challenging and competitive arena of international shipping.
9. For this purpose the small and low capitalised domestic
shipping companies should consider merging, or form
consortia with other shipping companies, local or foreign
for greater efficiency and in order to operate viably.
10. There is no reason why Malaysians should not succeed in
shipping. We have a maritime tradition and our training
facilities are capable of producing competent and properly
trained seamen who meet the standards set by the
International Maritime Organisation. These facilities can
be expanded to cater to the increasing demand for trained
seamen not only in Malaysia but also in the region.
11. We also have shipyards to build and repair ships. It
is true that currently our shipyards do not have the
capacity or expertise to build very large or sophisticated
ships. Many of our shipyards limit themselves to the
construction of small riverine or coastal ships of
relatively simple design.
12. However, I believe that we can upgrade our
ship-building skills and capacity. In this respect, the
recent acquisition of Malaysia Shipyard and Engineering
(MSE), the largest shipyard in the country, by a consortium
led by MISC is a very significant development.
13. MISC's involvement in shipbuilding and repair is a
logical development in its desire to diversify its
operations.
14. I am confident that under the new management the fully
privatised MSE, which is said to possess one of the finest
repair facilities in the region, can grow and develop into a
major ship-builder. It is clear that shipyards are
presently facing a shortage of capacity and are finding
it difficult to cope with increasing orders for the
construction of new ships. MSE can play an important role
in helping to meet the growing demand for ship-building
capacity in the region.
15. In this respect we can learn much from established
shipyards such as Hyundai which is recognised as one of the
largest in the world.
16. I realise that the task of up-grading and improving the
shipbuilding and repair facilities at MSE, in order to be
able to play a more active role in meeting the growing
demand worldwide for bigger and more sophisticated
ocean-going vessels, is not an easy one. This is especially
so as Malaysian shipyards presently play a very small role
in shipbuilding. During the second quarter of this year
Malaysian shipyards took up only 0.06% of the total world
order book for new ships. However, with determination,
I am confident that this can be done. This could well
develop into another field of activity for young Malaysians
to develop skills which are in great demand world-wide.
17. Today's ceremony may be seen as another concrete step
in promoting closer commercial ties between Malaysia and
Korea. I am aware that a variety of sound business ventures
have blossomed to the benefit of our two countries over the
years. It is encouraging to note that Malaysia has been
listed as the most popular investment centre in the region
by the South Korean Association of Marketing Industry.
18. Just as the Korean Government has implemented a series
of vision-oriented development plans to enable it to become
the progressive and prosperous State that it is today, we in
Malaysia also have a vision. We are determined to become a
fully industrialised nation, as Korea is today, by the year
2020. In this direction, the strategies mentioned in our
Second Outline Perspective Plan call for broad development
plans to be implemented over the next decade. These plans
can succeed because they are founded upon past achievements
and present capacities with the principal thrust on
promoting a more balanced, broad-based, resilient and
internationally competitive economy.
19. Our Sixth Malaysia Plan, which outlines strategies for
development and growth over the next five years, is designed
to promote the greatest amount of private investment
possible. The public sector will support the infrastructure
needs of the expanding economy as well as meet the
all-important distributional objectives of the Second
Outline Perspective Plan.
20. The Sixth Malaysia Plan has a target Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth adjusted for inflation of 7.5 percent
from 1991 to 1994. Real private investment is expected
to grow by 8.6 percent compared to public investment of 3
percent. By 1992 private investment is expected to make
up 23.1 percent. The Sixth Malaysia Plan assures foreign
investors, and that includes our friends from Korea, that
the Government will continue the existing liberal policy on
equity requirements for foreigners in the manufacturing
and tourism sectors.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
21. The successful completion of this impressive 59,697
tons containership, Bunga Pelangi, is a fine testimony to
the skills and expertise of Hyundai Heavy Industries. I
therefore extend my heartiest compliments to the shipyard on
their skill and capabilities.
22. I would like to congratulate MISC on the addition of
this modern containership to the Corporation's fleet. With
the delivery of Bunga Pelangi the number of ships in MISC's
fleet has, I understand, increased to 51. I hope that the
Corporation will continue its policy of judiciously
expanding its fleet to help meet the growing demand of our
rapidly developing export and import business.
23. I am confident that MISC will continue to play its role
as the national shipping line in striving to be more
innovative and therefore help meet the aims and
aspirations of Malaysia.
24. I thank the Board of MISC for according my wife the
honour of naming Bunga Pelangi.
25. I wish Bunga Pelangi and all who sail in her a safe
voyage.
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