Port Klang Authority (PKA), the government agency that regulates and owns Malaysia’s busiest port and the 12th largest container port in the world, Port of Klang, has introduced seven initiatives amounting to MYR 17.23 million (USD 4.1 million) to ease the financial burden of logistics and shipping players affected by COVID-19 outbreak.
Through the first initiative, PKA will extend the free additional storage period to cargo and containers, specifically to six days from the current four days for import containers and seven days from the current five days for export cargo. In the second initiative, there will be an exemption on permits and fees imposed by government agencies for the port operations until December this year. The third initiative involves terminal operators who will provide a commercial incentive to shipping companies, importers and exporters to lessen their financial burden and encourage trade activities. As for the fourth initiative, PKA will be developing an integrated digitalization system to increase productivity and diversify trade in the respective sector.
For the fifth and sixth initiatives, PKA will increase the infrastructure capacity at Port Klang and will provide financial incentives worth MYR 2.3 million (USD 550,832) to tenants, shipping companies and jetty operators from March to December 2020. As for the last initiative, PKA has deferred the 30% rent collection for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) for a period of six months amounting to MYR 14 million (USD 3.35 million).
PKA also noted a negative growth of 9.3% during the first half of 2020 in terms of the port’s container handling, as compared to the first half of 2019, due to the impact of COVID-19 on the logistics and manufacturing industries faced by Malaysia and globally.
(Sources: Malay Mail; New Straits Times)
