• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Conference on Making Bintulu Port International

Posted on: Monday, 23 January 2006, 21:00 CST

A TWO-DAY international conference on Bintulu Port will be held in Bintulu, Sarawak, to showcase developments at the port and explore its prospects as a regional load centre.

To be officiated by Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the two-day conference from March 27-28 aims to "open" Bintulu Port to the international shipping and port communities.

Conference organiser, PortsWorld, said in a statement that the initiative is consistent with the proposed strategy to foster the growth and development of Bintulu Port as a Regional Load Centre for the BIMP-EAGA region.

BIMP-EAGA is the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area.

"Bintulu Port has the potential to expand and play a more prominent role in the regional ports system," Deputy Minister of Transport, Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said in the statement.

PortsWorld managing director G Durairaj said conference speakers include representatives from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Sarawak State Ministry for Infrastructure Development and Communication, Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, Malaysian Shipowners' Association, Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd, BIMP-EAGA Business Council, and Penang Port Sdn Bhd.

"We expect about 70 per cent of the participants from Malaysia, including about 50 per cent of that to come from Sabah and Sarawak. Foreign delegates are expected from Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand," he said.

A highlight of the conference will be a panel discussion on port alliances in fostering regional load at Bintulu Port.

Facilities at Bintulu Port, which commenced operations in 1983, include a dedicated container terminal, three LNG jetties, a petroleum and LPG jetty each, as well as dedicated bulk cargo wharves and a palm oil terminal.

The port handled 36.4 million tones of cargo last year, including 148,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), and is positioning itself as regional load centre for the containerised trade in the region.

Source: Business Times; Kuala Lumpur

More News in this Category