12MP to enhance competitiveness of transport and logistics industry, governance

KUALA LUMPUR: Enhancing the competitiveness of the transport and logistics industry, as well as its governance, are among the focuses of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) to improve national productivity, facilitate economic growth and improve the wellbeing of the rakyat.

According to the 12MP document released by the Economic Planning Unit, Malaysia aims to become a transport and logistics hub in the South-East Asia region by 2025, with initiatives to be introduced to enhance the competitiveness of the transport and logistic sectors.

The document stated that the initiatives include enhancing efficiency and leveraging digitalisation in transport and logistic services, at the same time contributing towards improving cargo-handling processes, increasing cargo volume and enhancing trade.

Two strategies will be implemented which are enhancing the efficiency of services and leveraging digitalisation in services.

"Initiatives to enhance the efficiency of transport and logistics services focus on raising the capacity of ports infrastructure and services, improving last-mile connectivity, encouraging multimodal cargo movement, upgrading the aviation system and implementing preventive maintenance of roads and bridges," the document said.

Other than that, logistics connectivity between rail, sea and air will be improved to position Malaysia as a vibrant cargo hub, whereby the logistics industry will be encouraged to adopt the multimodal cargo movement approach to enhance logistics services capability and reduce the cost of distribution.

According to the document, a single-window transaction platform Ubiquitous Customs (uCustoms) will be fully operationalised to further improve the ease of doing business by providing a web-based, electronic end-to-end solution.

A centralised database for the transport and logistics sectors will be established which comprises a comprehensive layered map and statistics related to roads, rail, aviation and maritime services, other than containing information on greening the transport sector.

The document also mentioned that strategies will be implemented in strengthening institutional and regulatory frameworks, including improving governance and promoting green initiatives.

Furthermore, overall accessibility to public transport will be improved by integrating various modes of transport and encouraging transit-oriented development (TOD) which will contribute to reducing the dependency on private vehicles, improving productivity and enhancing the well-being of the rakyat.

According to the document, the efficiency and connectivity of public transport will be improved in order to propel public transport as the first choice for travel.

In addition, to minimise waiting and travelling time, the frequency of feeder buses will be increased and the routes will be realigned.

"While e-hailing services will be integrated with MRT and other transport services. This is expected to increase the ridership of public transport services," it said.

-- BERNAMA