Cabotage Policy OK if fair – FSI

0

KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Sabah Industries has renewed its call for the Federal Government to set in place immediate measures to remedy the adverse impacts of the Cabotage Policy on industries in east Malaysia.

The association formerly known as the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) reiterated that the excessive shipping charges imposed on Sabah and Sarawak under the policy put the industries here at a great disadvantage and restricted their growth.

Its president, Datuk Seri Wong Khen Thau said FSI was not against the policy aimed at protecting the local shipping companies but its implementation has to be fair to industries and consumers from all parts of the country.

“There is nothing wrong with protecting the shipping sector but at the same time other industries must not be forgotten and left at a disadvantage. We just want fair treatment,” he said to the media here yesterday.

Wong lamented that shipping companies were taking advantage of the policy to impose exorbitant charges to companies importing goods from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the charges for shipping products from Semenanjung was much higher compared to the standard rate for importing and exporting goods at the international level.

As a result, he said industries and consumers in Sabah have to pay more for almost everything compared to those in Peninsular Malaysia.

“Imported products are more expensive in Sabah compared to Semenanjung because of the expensive shipping cost. Raw materials for the housing sector for example cost much, much more here compared to that in Semenanjung, and this contributed to the higher prices of houses here.

“The policy is indirectly hindering the growth of the housing industry in Sabah. The same goes for other industries reliant on materials that has to be imported from or through Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

Wong stressed that the time had come for the related authority to re-look the implementation of the Cabotage Policy to find a win-win solution that would result in fairer prices for the industries and consumers across the country.

He said industries in Sabah have been burdened with the higher cost of doing business for the sake of realizing the objective of the Cabotage Policy, which was to help local shipping companies grow and be able to compete openly with international shippers.

However, he said, local shipping companies have failed to achieve this despite being protected by the Policy, and instead of moving towards the international market they were more interested in just exploiting the shielded domestic market.

“The shipping industry should grow and compete at the international level and not just among themselves. In any case, countries that do not practise such policy, like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan grow rapidly and are able to actively compete at the international level.

“I hope Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai would be brave and do something to change the way things are now for the good of all parties,” he said, adding that the people of Sabah had suffered for 30 years due to the Cabotage Policy.