KUCHING, July 27: The Sarawak government is looking into building a new deep sea port for Southern Sarawak at Tanjung Embang in collaboration with a Belgium-based port authority.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Antwerp-Bruges Port and Hubline Berhad on Tuesday (July 26).
The Antwerp-Bruges Port is the second largest international container port in Europe and the 14th in the world while Hubline is a local company involved in bulk shipping logistics services.
Abang Johari expressed confidence that the latest innovations, when applied to port management and related services, would serve as an advantage.
“If everything (innovation and technology) is already there, the investors will have confidence. I’m sure this port will thrive,” he said during the MoU signing ceremony at Antwerp, Belgium.
In early July, he said, he was in Singapore to attend a briefing by consultants on the socio-economic impact of the said project that involves an area of 109 square kilometres.
He added that Tanjung Embang would be developed by the ASSAR Group, an investment holding company wholly owned by the Sarawak government.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel said the Tanjung Embang port is one of the two deep sea ports that will be developed under the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
“Another port will be developed in the northern area of Sarawak as part of a program to restore and catalyze Sarawak’s economic growth post-Covid-19,” he said.
Upon arrival at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Abang Johari and his entourage were briefed on the development and operation of the port by port officials.
Later, he paid an honorary visit to the Minister-President of Flanders for the Flemish Region, Jan Jambon.
Also present were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Majang Renggi and the Malaysian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Dato Ahmad Rozian Abd Ghani.
Earlier in the morning, Abang Johari also witnessed a similar ceremony between the Sarawak government and Melexis Technology to pioneer collaboration in the development of integrated micro-chip designs for chips produced in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
