Penang Port has established a free commercial zone (FCZ) to boost shipping and transhipment activities.
North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) was gazetted as a FCZ on 1 February, with FCZ operations due to commence in March, said MMC subsidiary Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), which manages and operates Penang Port. The initiative is expected to attract more traffic to NBCT.
“Penang Port will capitalise on the newly found status to tap into the Bay of Bengal market by undertaking transhipment activities for containers moving between the Bay of Bengal and the Far-East,” said PPSB. “In the near future, Penang Port’s plan is to link-up feeder operators in Bay of Bengal with mainline operators.”
More investment
The port could leverage on the FCZ status to attract investors around the world to carry out activities such as break-bulking, grading, repackaging, relabelling, transit and re-export.
With the establishment of FCZ in NBCT, foreign companies will be able to use the facilities before exporting their product overseas. This will also benefit Penang Port in the long run through the exempt customs duty, excise duty, sales tax and service tax except for certain goods. The local workforce and port operations will be much more efficient once the facilities are upgraded; cutting-edge technologies are implemented and introduced to cater to the foreign investors, added PPSB.
NBCT will be able to accommodate activities such as high-tech warehousing and logistics facilities, to spearhead economic growth in the Northern region of Malaysia.
