OUM
Westports Maritime
Public Bank

March 04, 2009 17:16 PM

Plans Ahead To Turn Labuan Into Regional Distribution Centre

LABUAN, March 4 (Bernama) -- Plans are afoot to turn Labuan into a regional distribution centre for various products, especially from China and the Philippines, Labuan member of parliament Datuk Yussof Mahal said today.

He said Labuan has the potential to be developed further like Singapore and Hong Kong.

"We need to galvanise our efforts, be it the public or private sector, to transform Labuan into an interesting place and competitive for investors," he said.

Labuan, part of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines -- East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), covering a land area of about 1.54 million square kilometres, is also home to about 57.5 million people.

Yussof said there were vast tracts of untapped and unexplored areas in Labuan and in the BIMP-EAGA region.

Yussof said there was a need to increase trade, investments and tourism in the sub-region by facilitating freer movement of people, goods and services, development of vital infrastructures and coordination of the management of ecosystems and common resources to ensure sustainable development.

"Once this materialises (distribution centre), we should be able to reduce over-dependence on imported goods for local consumption. We should also be able to create new employment," he said.

Yussof hoped that once Labuan became a regional distribution centre, there would be more direct shipments to Labuan, especially to the Labuan Liberty Port.

"With more direct shipments to Labuan instead of going through via Kota Kinabalu, we should be able to see consumer goods getting cheaper.

"Lesser direct shipments to Labuan had contributed to higher goods' prices on the island," he added.

-- BERNAMA

We provide (subscription-based) 
news coverage in our Newswire service.