KOTA KINABALU: Global logistical linkages, attracting foreign direct investments and the concept of green port are the potentials that State-owned POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd is finalising with China’s Shandong Port Overseas Development Group Co. Ltd.
“Both parties are clear on what each other can bring to the table and are narrowing our options,” said POIC Sabah Chief Executive Officer Datuk Fredian Gan on the visit by top officials from the major Chinese port group.
An eight-member delegation, led by Deputy Director of Shandong Port International Cooperation Department, Sun Chao, made their much-awaited visit to POIC Lahad Datu on Dec 19, eight months after having virtually signed a Strategic Collaboration Agreement with POIC Sabah in April.
The delegation also included Deputy General Managers of Shandong Port Overseas Development Group, Yantai Company of Shandong Port Trade Group Co. Ltd. and Container Company of Qingdao Port. Their itinerary included meetings with port officials and visiting selected ports in Malaysia and Indonesia.
To mark the visit to Sabah, POIC Sabah and Shandong Port Overseas Development Group Co. Ltd. signed a Friendship Port Agreement of details of business agreements will be concluded in the near future.
“The (Shandong) Group is a diversified industrial group that runs seven ports on China’s eastern seaboard. Their combined cargo throughput to the tune of 2.0 billion metric tons annually and the over 300 shipping routes they operate on makes them the biggest port group in the world.
“Seen together with POIC’s strategic position in our part of Asean, our rich natural resources and untold market and shipping growth potentials, there are innumerable areas to explore.
“At POIC we are looking into how to use Shandong’s diversified base and global connections to attract foreign investors to Lahad Datu, latching onto Shandong’s global shipping linkages to expose POIC Port and to learn about the Green Port concept which is gaining widespread traction,” said Gan.
In a meeting with the Shandong Port Overseas Development Group Co. Ltd. delegation, POIC Sabah Chairman Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said the Sabah-owned company is “on the shoulders of a giant” in terms of working with SRPG and its stature in the global logistics industry.
He said that while POIC Sabah sees Shandong Port as a gateway to global logistics, its interest is a recognition of POIC Lahad Datu’s vital position in east Asean.
He said POIC’s tie-up with SPODG will have major contribution to Sabah’s development and efforts to draw foreign investments.
Shandong Port Overseas Development Group Co. Ltd. has seven major municipal ports – Bingzhou, Dongying, Weifang, Qingdao, Rizhao, Yantai and Wehai. They combined for 1.9 billion metric tons of cargo in 2021 and 30 million TEUs (container units). The ports are linked to a combined 313 shipping routes of which 173 are international, 113 covering RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) countries and 84 so called Belt and Road ports. The Group has business in Southeast Asia. South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and West Africa.
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