ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

A very good morning.

First & foremost on behalf of ASEAN Ports Association, Malaysia, allow me to record our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the secretariat & all of the member of ASEAN Ports Association for giving our country Malaysia the honour to host the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Committee Meeting. ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia is pleased to host this meeting in Kuantan the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia.

Dato’-Dato’, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I would like also to express my sincere appreciation & thanks to our Guest of Honour, The Honourable YB Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri, Deputy Minister of Transport for his agreement to deliver a keynote address and to officiate the opening of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Committee Meeting.

I wish to extend also our deepest appreciation and thanks to Dato’-Dato’ and distinguished guest for being presence here. Indeed your presence here show & reflect of your strong and continuous support to the development of Kuantan Port. I hope your cooperation & contribution will continue towards a prosperous development of Kuantan Port in the future.

Dato’-Dato’, Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia, it gives me a great pleasure to wish a warm welcome to all the delegates of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Meeting. The delegates are from the ASEAN Nation, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and not to forget our own country Malaysia.

We are glad that you all have landed here in Kuantan & hope that you will have a pleasant stay. Our team is ready to assist you in your need and interest. We hope that we will meet your expectation. While you are here, please take the opportunity to explore the city of Kuantan. Kuantan is the largest city in the East Coast of Malaysia with approximately 607,700 population. It is situated near the mouth of Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. No wonder Kuantan’s main sight seeing attraction is the beautiful scenic beaches. Our team have planned for the delegates to have the excitement and enjoyment of one of the beaches by having lunch at the famous beach of Teluk Chempedak on the 24th of November.

If delegates like shopping, East Coast Mall, a shopping mall of 1 million sq feet of build-up area is located just in front of this hotel.

Distinguished delegates, I would suggest you to refer to your programme of activities book which have being provided to you during the registration. It is important to do so as to make sure that you all will not miss the excitement and benefit of the programme. I hope that the delegates will have a memorable time ini the next three days and I would like to wish all a fruithful gathering and networking.
Last but far from least, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all for participating in this opening ceremony of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Meeting. Once again right from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank our guest of honour YB Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri, Deputy Minister of Transport for his commitment to officiate the opening of this meeting.
Thank You.

Brunei Darussalam is honoured to host the ASEAN Ports Association Sports Meet for the second time since the 3rd APA Sports in 1991. The 9th APA Sports Meet was successfully held in Bandar Seri Begawan from 25th to 29th June 2007. The event was participated by a total of 323 participants and officers from 8 ASEAN countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The event was organized by the Ports Department, Ministry of Communications, Brunei Darussalam. The launching of 9th APA Sports Meet was officiated by Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff bin Haji Abd Hamid, Acting Minister of Communications. Hosting this Sports Meet is one of the events that Brunei Darussalam has been looking forward to.

Unlike previous Sports Meets, Brunei Darussalam introduced a few different features into the 9th APA Sports Meet. This time, Brunei Darussalam has prepared for 6 games in total, i.e Golf, Futsal, Badminton, Mini Marathon, Table Tennis and Ten Pin Bowling. Ten Pin Bowling and Futsal are two new sports introduced this time around, where Futsal was to replace soccer while Ten Pin Bowling was introduced to bring new excitement to the Sports Meet. Also, Brunei Darussalam has introduced a medal system instead of a point system where the system is similar to the SEA Games.

The event demonstrated the close ties from Member Countries, whom had been acquainted from previous Sports Meet as well as making new friendships through the sports events as well as social activities such as the Opening Ceremony, Welcome Dinner, Closing Ceremony and Farewell Dinner. The cultural performances presented by member countries were met with enjoyment and friendship that APA Sports Meet encourages.

There was also good sportsmanship and cheer displayed for all the six sports activities and after 4 days of friendly competition, Thailand became the Overall Champion with 11 Gold medals, followed by Indonesia as runner-up with 7 Gold Medals and Malaysia in the 3rd place with 3 Gold Medals. Other Member Countries also did well. Details of the result is attached.

As the 9th APA Sports Meets came to a close, it was evident that despite the competitions, new friendships, fostering of cooperation and cordiality among officers and staff of ports among the ASEAN members was far more important. The APA Sports Meet is a venue where officers and staff of all levels get together in a single gathering where they could get to know each other better. At the Closing Ceremony, Brunei Darussalam, represented by Dato Paduka Haji Md Yusof bin Haji Md Hassan, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Communications handed over the APA flag to Thailand to signify its turn as the next host, as Vietnam has indicated that they would not be able to host the next APA Sports Meet. The 10th APA Sports Meet will be held in 2010.