Turning Lumut into a barter trade port

JBC hopes that Lumut Port will take at least 20% of the country’s barter trade business.

The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Joint Business Council (JBC) is seeking endorsement from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to turn Lumut Port in Perak into a barter trade centre.

JBC Malaysia chairman Datuk Faudzi Naim Noh said the request was to facilitate the growing trade at the port between Malaysia and Tanjung Balai Asahan and Belawan, Sumatra in Indonesia.

“Lumut Port is equipped with the facilities to turn into a barter trade centre.

“It has a cold storage and a warehouse. In terms of agricultural products like fish and vegetables, business has begun but in small volumes,” he told reporters after attending the first day of the 23rd IMT-GT JBC Meeting recently.

Faudzi said the barter trade business was currently monopolised by Port Klang and the Penang Port.

“The business volume of Penang Port is about RM100mil to RM150mil. It is our hope that Lumut Port takes at least 20% of the country’s total volume in the barter trade business,” he said.

Faudzi added that should Lumut port successfully transform into a barter trade centre, it would be an important business platform for small and medium enterprises.

“Based on the EPU’s study in 2002, the barter trade system is proven to be a promising mode of business,” he said.

Faudzi said the barter trade centre was for ships weighing below 500 tonnes that are allowed for simple customs declaration according to a 1970 agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia.

“A new agreement is currently reviewed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, and JBC plans to give plenty of input,” said Faudzi.

He said it would take between three and six months for the EPU to decide on the endorsement.

Besides Lumut Port, Faudzi said that the council was seeking to turn the ports of Kuala Linggi in Malacca, Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Kedah and Langkawi in Kedah, as part of the barter trade network.

During the meeting, 200 delegates - 100 from Malaysia and 50 each from Thailand and Indonesia, discussed six topics; trade and investment, infrastructure and transportation, tourism, agriculture and agro-based industry, human resources, and halal food and services.

They also discussed plans to boost tourism in the three countries through the Visit IMT-GT 2008 campaign.