KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign vessels involved in repairing undersea cables in Malaysian waters need not get an endorsement from the Malaysian Shipping Association.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the exemption, which came into effect on April 1, was one of the steps taken to draw foreign investments into the country.
He said it currently took up to 27 days to repair undersea cables if the vessels operated from Malaysia.
“As a result, most vessels operate from Singapore. We hope to reduce that to 14 days,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
This, he added, could help make Malaysia more competitive in the race to attract foreign investors such as Facebook, Google and Amazon. These companies are keen on laying undersea cables and building data centres in the country.
He said Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd had also asked him to expedite the exemption.
Loke said the exemption could not only help to expand domestic telecommunications and internet services but also attract new investments and create more jobs.
Malaysia has 16 international underwater cable networks and nine domestic cable networks at cable landing stations nationwide.
Under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, foreign vessels are required to obtain an endorsement before they are allowed to operate in Malaysian waters.
