MAHB aims to double cargo volume to 1.5 m tonnes in 10 years

SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) aims to double its cargo volume to 1.5 million tonnes annually in 10 years or less from 750,000 tonnes currently, focusing on e-commerce and the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) iniative, said its managing director, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali.
He said this short-term plan is another step to achieve the momentum needed to reach the target of 3.5 million tonnes per annum by 2050.
Malaysia is focused on increasing its cargo and logistic traffic by capitalising on the KLIA Aeropolis project, which was launched in May, to serve as the driver in achieving its vision of becoming a global leader in creating airport cities, he added.
"This is our short-term plan to increase the volume. It sounds too long but we have been flat in the air freighter cargo over the years. We want to double it and get the momentum to reach 3.5 million tonnes by attracting local and foreign players in logistic and air cargo with one of the players, Alibaba Group.
"Alibaba is one of the largest e-commerce players in the region that has agreed to set up the e-fulfilment and e-clearance hubs in Malaysia," he told a press conference on the current updates of the KLIA Aeropolis, following a meeting with the Transport Ministry, International Trade and Industry Ministry, and Economic Planning Unit on Monday.
Badlisham was met after the launch of the Beyond Borders School Adoption Programme, MAHB's flagship corporate social responsibility initiative here today.
KLIA Aeroplis was selected to be the site of the initial phase for the DFTZ, which is centred around the key clusters of air cargo and logistics; aerospace and aviation parks; and meetings, incentives, conference and events (MICE), and leisure.
Meanwhile, Badlisham said MAHB forecast to expand its current 14 plane freighters flying into Malaysia, to an additional 16 to 20 freighters in the next ten years.
"We are quite a big region and we will definitely do well in the air cargo side because we are creating more facilities, putting up more plans and support systems.
"There is strong demand for the development of an integrated freight and logistics infrastructure with global and local cargo traffic," he said, adding that KLIA Aeropolis would serve as the core of MAHB's air cargo and logistics ecosystem, extending to Penang.
Furthermore, Badlisham said the air cargo did not involve industrial products, instead it would cater to the e-commerce market space on perishable products, halal goods, and electronics.
On another note, he said MAHB wanted to attract higher value of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, which required closer proximity to the airport.
Earlier, in his opening speech, Badlisham said MAHB today adopted another four schools to bring the total to 32 schools under the fourth phase of its programme to ensure sustainable progress in improving English language proficiency among primary school children.
The schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan Dengkil, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Dengkil, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Wah Lian and Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Bangkong (Asli), and a total of 1,900 Standard Four students and 25 teachers are targeted to benefit from the programme, he added.
"This is done by laying a strong foundation and understanding of the language not only through conventional means within a classroom setting but also through creative means in a fun environment.
"The students were encouraged to listen, speak, read and write the language, as well as enhancing their confidence by participating in activities such as drama and storytelling," he said.
"Since 2007, this programme has created a positive impact to about 20,000 students from all our adopted schools," he said, adding that the schools adopted in the third phase had achieved an average passing of 73.11% in English subject in 2016 and 63.52% in 2007.
The event was launched Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan. — Bernama