Ministries to concurrently implement logistics, trade facilitation masterplan — Liow
PUTRAJAYA: The Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan will be implemented by various ministries and agencies through an integrated approach concurrently due to the dynamic development of the logistics and trade facilitation sectors.
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, said the masterplan, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2015, which aimed to enhance domestic growth, had moved into Phase 2 (2017 to 2019).
“Going forward, we will implement the remaining Action Items of the masterplan from all three phases concurrently,” he said in a statement issued after chairing the First National Logistics Task Force ( NLTF) Meeting yesterday.
Liow said several groundbreaking initiatives had been taken by the government as well as the private sector.
Among them were the proposed development of the Pulau Carey Port-Industrial City Project; East Coast Rail Link; Digital Free Trade Zone; Regional e-Commerce and Logistics Hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport Aeropolis; 24-hour Customs facilitation at the borders; and, Sabah as the regional logistics hub for East Asean Growth Area, he said.
He said the implementation of the masterplan’s Phase 1 (Debottlenecking) had recorded an impressive 85 per cent performance last year, having successfully completed eight out of the total 11 Action Items under the phase.
“The remaining three initiatives have been brought forward to be completed in 2017 due to resource constraints,” he said.
The three are improving last- mile connectivity to Port Klang; addressing bottlenecks in Padang Besar Terminal and developing u-Customs to provide a fully integrated; and, end-to-end Customs modernisation solution and a single window for goods clearance.
Liow also welcomed two ministers - Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani - as new members of the NLTF, an interministry task force set up to drive and monitor the implementation of the masterplan.
He said the involvement of the two ministers representing key central agencies – Economic Planning Unit and Ministry of Finance - the NLTF would be further strengthened and more robust in implementing the masterplan.
“This is critical as logistics support all sectors of the economy, facilitates trade, reduces costs of doing business and contributes to enhancing productivity and economic growth,” he said. — Bernama