Asia's shipping trade is expected to grow sharply led by China and India, but the region must enhance security and invest some US$27 billion to build over 430 new container berths by 2011 to meet rising demand, shippers and analysts said yesterday.
China's booming economy and its emergence as the world's second top container market will boost intra-regional trade, rather than threaten the growth of other Asian ports, they said at a two-day maritime conference in Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Maritime Institute president Jaffar Lamri said Asia remained the dominant player in the global shipping industry, with its container trade projected to grow at an annual average rate of seven percent between 2000 and 2007.
Eleven Asian ports are already among the world's top 20 ports, and contributed 46 percent of the world's total container boxes of 20-foot-equivalent-units (TEUs) throughput, he said.
By 2011, he said Asia was expected to handle 206.7 million TEUs, including 64 million in transshipment and this required large port investments to cope with the growth.
"Over 430 new container berths are required in Asia-Pacific region to handle container traffic in 2011, at an estimated cost of US$27 billion," Jaffar told the forum.
He said China was emerging as the world's second-largest container market in line with its economic boom and growing trade with the US, while India was a "sleeping Bengal tiger" that would be a major player if it awakens.
"China and India are leading the industry but I think smaller countries are developing their own niche markets. I don't think China's growth will be a threat to the region. Volume is growing and the industry is big enough for everybody," he said, adding that Indonesia and Thailand have strong growth potential.
Worldwide, he said container traffic was projected to grow from 87.1 million TEUs last year to 94.4 million this year and to 104 million next year. By 2010, it is expected to hit 400 million to 460 million TEUs and 510 million to 610 million in 2015.
Ashwin Pavan, regional commercial general manager for shipping giant Maersk Sealand International, said China was an important market for shippers and Maersk has positioned a large fleet in the country to tap the boom.
"I don't see China as a threat to Southeast Asia but its growth will help to boost intra-regional trade," he told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.
Maersk views Thailand and Vietnam as high growth markets but Indonesia's potential is dampened by its weak security enforcement, he said.
"Security is a big concern and has been underplayed by shippers. There is a slowly growing awareness among regional governments on the need to improve security but it is still not where it is supposed to be," he said.
Earlier, Malaysia's Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy, in his keynote address, said the government was committed to anti-terrorist measures for ports and vessels imposed by the International Maritime Organization.
He said 84 out of 86 Malaysian ports and 358 Malaysian ships engaged in international trade have complied with the International Ship and Port Facility Security code, and plans were underway to establish a single port authority and tighten shipping regulations next year.
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