SENAI: Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) plans to invest RM3 billion over the next five years to create an additional capacity of 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), chief executive officer Marco Neelsen said.
He said the investment would be segregated into two parts, comprising investment in infrastructure and equipment as well as automation and digitalisation, which includes environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) related development.
Neelsen said the investment is predominantly to grow PTP’s footprint in free-zone and also terminal while making the footprint more green and sustainable.
"For this year, we already have around RM500 million approved by the board. We also do not foresee any project delays as there is no more COVID-19 restrictions as well as the ease of supply chain worldwide,” he told reporters in a briefing here today.
On last year’s performance, Neelsen said there was a slight decrease due to the global downturn caused by higher energy prices, geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine and the change in consumer pattern, which moved away from goods to services-based expenses.
"As for 2023, it’s quite difficult to predict in line with global uncertainties but we are optimistic towards the second quarter and second half of this year, hence, we are keeping this a little flexible at the moment,” he said.
A joint venture between Malaysia’s MMC Corporation Bhd (70 per cent) and The Hague’s APM Terminals (30 per cent), PTP was developed from green field consisting of 809.37 hectares for port terminal and 607.03 hectares for free-zone area.
In 2021, the port created a new milestone by becoming the first container terminal in Malaysia to surpass 11 million TEUs throughput and it was also ranked among the 15 top ports in the world with a growth of 10.5 million TEUs last year.
In October 2021, PTP becomes the first port in Southeast Asia to welcome Evergreen Marine Corporation world’s largest container ship, Ever Ace, with 24,000 TEUs class container ships as part of the vessel maiden voyage in the region. - Bernama
