Speech By
Yang
Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang
Abdullah Bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, Minister of
Communications
At The
Welcoming Ceremony Of The Maiden Voyage Of MV MTT Muara To Muara Port
15 April 2015
Alhamdulillahi
rabbal 'alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu'ala ashrafil ambiyaa iwal
mursaleen. Saiyidina muhammadin wa'ala aalihi wasahbihi ajmaeen.
Assallamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
And a very good morning
Yang
Mulia, Awang Abdul Mutalib Bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka
Haji Mohamad Yusof, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications.
Yang Mulia Awang Mohd Riza bin Dato Paduka Haji Yunos, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications.
Dato Dr Kenny Ong, Group Executive Chairman - MTT & Priority Group of Companies
Directors and senior government officials
Members
of the Shipping Agents Association Brunei Darussalam (SABD),
Forwarding, Transportation & Stevedoring Association Brunei
Darussalam (FTSBD) and Brunei Forwarders Association (BRUFA).
Representatives of the private sector, distinguished guests….. ladies and gentlemen.
1. First and foremost
I would like to convey my sincerest appreciation and thanks to
Archipelago for inviting me to this auspicious occasion on the maiden
voyage of MV MTT Muara to Muara Port.
2.
In this regard, I would also like to take this opportunity to express my
gratitude to MTT Shipping Sdn Bhd, for choosing Brunei Darussalam and
Muara Port specificially, as part of your shipping network. It is our
pleasure to welcome MTT Shipping Sdn Bhd into Brunei Darussalam.
Ladies and Gentlemen
3.
The transportation sector plays a crucial role in supporting the
economic growth of Brunei Darussalam. To achieve the target set in the
Wawasan 2035, the Ministry of Communications strategic goal is to make
it not just a supporting industry to other industries but to make it as a
vibrant, dynamic and growing industry by itself, contributing to an
increase share of the country's GDP. This can be achieved by
establishing a sustainable hubbing activities in all modes of
transportation and communications which is in line with the Ministry of
Communications' long term plan and mission for Muara Port, which hinges
on six strategic thrusts which are Corporatisation and Privatisation,
private sector participation and facilitation, infrastructure
development, operational enhancement, HRD and Safety, security and the
environment.
4.
His Majesty The Sultan Yang Di Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam has
articulated a powerful and compelling vision, Wawasan 2035 to be
achieved through progressive and sustainable economic growth for our
future generations. We have set ourselves clear and ambitious targets in
the three areas of education, quality of life and economy.
5.
This sector in turn serves as a very critical component of the wider
perspective of the logistics industry. We may safely conclude that the
logistics industry being a major contributor to the GDP, must also grow
by at least the same rate of 5%-6%. We are fully aware that this will
require robust economic strategies by reducing supply chain barriers to
trade in the areas of:
- Market Access requirements,
- Cross Border Facilitation
- Telecom and Transport Infrastructure (and Trade infrastructure)
such as availability and quality of transport infrastructure,
availability and quality of transport services and availability and use
of ICT Technologies,
- Regulatory Environment
- Physical security
6. I
am delighted to share that we are currently implementing some
initiatives which we believe will take us towards this direction.
7.
First, the Ports Department is currently in the midst of two tender
processes. One is the Extension of Muara Container Terminal project by
another 150-200meters which is scheduled to be completed before end of
2016. The extension will increase the capacity of the Terminal from
220,000 TEUs to 330,000 TEUs.
8.
The second project is the tender on operation contract of the Muara
Container Terminal which we hope would attract established international
operator with local content to promote and market it as a transshipment
hub of the sub-region of BIMP-EAGA.
9.
On the other hand, as part of the Pulau Muara Besar development, the
Muara Channel will be dredged to a depth of 14 meters from the current
12 meters. This will undoubtedly complement the two projects and will
enable bigger vessels to call at Muara Port.
10.
On the institutional mechanism front, the Ministry of Communications is
driving the corporatization process of the Ports Department which will
make it more efficient, productive, dynamic, competitive and able to
respond to market changes faster. And I do hope this will become a
reality in a not-too-distant future. A second institutional initiative
is the establishment of Brunei Maritime & Ports Authority by
corporatizing the Marine Department and making it an independent
statutory body, able to better manage and regulate the logistics
industry.
11.
Spearheaded by the Town and Country Planning Department, as part of the
Serasa Local Plan, the port land-area future boundary will be re-drawned
and expanded to accomodate future storage capacity requirement in
anticipation of increased industrialization including value-adding
industry in the port area. This is being complemented by an initiative
of the Ports Department itself to develop a Port Masterplan, a plan to
re-design and re-arrange the Layout of Muara Port to become more
efficient, environmentally-friendly and anticipative of future needs.
12.
Meanwhile, the construction of three bridges, one to connect Pulau Muara
Besar with the main land, another to connect Brunei Muara district with
Temburong and a third to connect Sungai Kebun with Bandar Seri Begawan
will facilitate the movement of not just people but as well as
connectivity for an integrated logistics supply chain within and across
the Brunei land-border and thus making Muara Port an ever important
entry and exit point for Brunei Darussalam and its "hinterland"[1].
13.
And these projects and initiatives will support major industrial and
infrastructural development being implemented in the country such as
pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, bio-innovation corridor, huge
housing projects, as well as the upcoming construction of an oil
refinery in Pulau Muara Besar.
14.
Regionally, the GDP growth of ASEAN members has been outperforming
global economy since year 2000 by an average of 1.5% and at the same
time driving growth in container throughput. The future outlook remains
positive.
15.
Meanwhile, during the same period, port volumes grew from 34.5 million
TEUs to 89.3 million TEUs, a growth rate of 7.6% CAGR[2]. Here we can see a very strong correlation between GDP and Container Throughput growth.
16.
Most importantly, 40 million TEUs or about 44% are actually
transshipment laden containers, a marked increase from a mere 10% early
in the period.
17.
The prospect of transshipment laden containers in the region and
therefore in Brunei Darussalam is extremely good and it is in this
respect that we will strive to develop this industry.
18.
On the shipping industry scene, the global shipment demand has expanded
by 50% during the last decade, bolstered by strong growth in
containerized cargo. Today, Asia accounts for the largest proportion[3] of global maritime trade and at the same time recording steady growth in its market share.
19.
There is also a clear and persistent trend towards larger container
liner sizes serving major deep sea shipping lanes. A majority of new
build orders are for container vessels larger than 10,000 TEUs. In fact
the largest in operation last year was 18,000 TEUs big. This development
has resulted in vessel 'cascading' where existing vessels are
re-deployed on secondary deep sea shipping lanes where port capacity
permits.
20.
The trend towards such Ultra Large Container Vessels or ULCVs is
changing the global competitive landscape and driving the forming of
operating and non-commercial alliances among liner operators to achieve
greater economy scale on the major lanes by consolidating their cargoes
and dropping some hub ports.
21.
While this may appear not to have any direct and immediate impact on
Muara Port, being a relatively small port compared to established ports
in the region, it may present both opportunities and challenges in the
feeder lanes, where Muara Port belongs to, due to re-drawing of hub and spoke alignments where some hubs are dropped.
22. The implications for container terminals such as Muara Port are however similar ie:
- terminals must expand and make better use of existing facilities to handle larger vessels and consignment sizes,
- terminal productivity need further improvements,
- dredging of approach channels and berths is required,
- clear terminal planning is needed,
- longer berths and larger terminal area is required and
- larger and possibly heavier quay-cranes with longer reach and taller clearance are needed.
23. I
am happy to note that the Ministry of Communications, Ports Department
and other relevant government agencies are already gearing towards this
direction by implementing the various initiatives I have mentioned
earlier.
24.
More so, MTT's arrival at Muara Port today is timely. The presence of
MTT shipping Sdn Bhd to serve Muara Port is warmly welcome. I have been
made to understand that at present MTT Shipping Sdn Bhd offers twice
weekly service to Muara Port. There are about 500 container
vessels calls anually at Muara Port. While this represent volume of 20%
of total container vessels calls at Muara Port I think MTT Shipping Sdn
bhd had made a good start. Furthermore, in terms of number of TEUs It
is estimated that number of TEU's transported by MTT Shipping Sdn Bhd is
about 200-300 TEU's per vessels calls which represent 22% of total
TEU's handled at Muara Port annually. While this number is considered
small we encourage MTT Shipping Sdn Bhd and Archipelago Sdn Bhd to
increase number of vessels calls and volume of container shipped at
Muara Port in the near future.
25.
In addition, this will provide more competition to existing shipping
lines currently operating in Brunei Darussalam and eventually leading to
more competitive pricing and lower logistics cost. With MTT Shipping
Sdn Bhd fixed weekly service schedule to Muara Port it will provide and
enhance port connectivity to other main gateway ports such as Port Klang
and Singapore. It is hope that it will also contribute to our
transhipment efforts, increase volume of containers and enhance the
attractiveness of Brunei Darussalam as a Foreign Direct Investment
destination.
26.
On this note, I call upon the logistics players, the private sector, the
three associations, importers, exporters and distributors to take
advantage of these developments and to strive towards achieving the
aspirations of Wawasan 2035.
Thank You.
[1] This hinterland includes interiors of Sarawak eg Lawas and Limbang and to some extent Miri.
[2] Source: Drewry Maritime Advisors
[3] Asia accounts for 57% of global imports & 39% of global exports
