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Ports should keep up with the global development and trends in order to gain
a competitive edge.
Penang Port Commission general manager Datuk Capt Abdul Rahim Abd Aziz said
managing a port is quite challenging as port managers are expected to
improve operation efficiency constantly while reporting good financial
returns.
“Shipping and port marketing is the key for shipping community and ports to
meet the challenges and ride the wave of the next opportunities.
“This is because marketing allows one to gauge and understand the market and
needs of customers, revealing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats,” he said at the Prospects and Challenges In Logistics Industry
seminar held in Kuala Lumpur last week.
In his paper entitled Roles of the Ports – Port Terminal interfacing /
Prospects and Challenge of the Ports, Rahim pointed out that ports today are
competing globally.
“Competition does not just come from within a national boundary or
regionally. New ports are being built or developed to take advantage of the
world's need for new shipping services or changing shipping pattern as a
result of the emergence of new markets.
“Malaysian ports will have to strategise how to remain a major player in the
maritime transport chain,” he said.
Rahim said the increase in the size of vessels, especially container
vessels, also makes it necessary for ports to respond to the needs of these
vessels.
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