ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Northport (M) Bhd will decide by October the financial instrument it will use to raise RM1 billion for its expansion, said Chief Executive Officer Abi Sofian Abdul Hamid.

He said the company was looking at the options of raising the money via the stock market or Islamic bonds, sukuk amid the volatility of Bursa Malaysia and the weakening ringgit against the greenback.

“The fund is needed to upgrade the port infrastucture as the wharfs were over 30 years old. We are the oldest port in Port Klang. We are now looking at the wharf requirements for the next 30 years,” he said.

Abi Sofian said this at a media briefing after the launch of the port’s electronic port pass system and Web-based client access system here Tuesday.

He said it was a challenge to meet the company’s five per cent growth target this year under the current economic conditions.

“This year, Northport is looking to handle about three million TEUS (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers compared with 3.09 million TEUs last year,” he said.

On the port’s Electronic Pass System, Abi Sofian said he hoped the new application created by its Information System Division would eliminate the hassle of applying for a port pass among its clients.BERNAMA

The maritime sector is expected to achieve up to RM19 billion profit and provide over 55,000 jobs in 2020, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

Najib said he was confident that the industry would thrust Malaysia as a nation that has the capabilities not only in the petroleum automotive industry but also venture into building high technology ships.

“The construction of the dredger “Inai Kenanga” can be classified as a high-impact project,” he said at the launch of the biggest ship in Asia and third largest in the world, here.

The close to RM1 billion Inai Kenanga was built by Selat Melaka Shipbuilding Corporation Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd.

The dredger has a market price of RM1.2 billion.

Najib said the ship was built in tandem with the Economic Transformation Plan and an entry point project as it provided a big impact to the country’s economy particularly in realising government efforts to transform the country into an advanced nation.

The prime minister said the government was constantly finding, identifying and developing sectors with good potential.

“The maritime sector, especially involving shipbuilding and ship maintenance work, is one of the industries accorded priority by the government,” he said.

Najib said big and efficient ports in and outside the country really needed dredgers of this size.

According to an appendix published by MIGHT — Maritime Industry Report 2013 — the government projected that shipbuilding and ship repair would rake in more than RM7 billion. BERNAMA