RM1 billion maritime fund a good first step but more needed to boost green shipping - Masa
10 Oct 2022 11:19am
Image for illustrative purposes only - BERNAMA
"We are glad that the government is still continuing to allocate some amount for the maritime industry.
"However, we believe it somehow falls rather short, as the industry needs more fund to start our journey towards green shipping as per the International Maritime Organisation’s ambition," chairman Mohamed Safwan Othman told Bernama.
He emphasised that the importance of pushing for green shipping is comparable to Malaysia's focus on sustainable development and green technology, which received substantial budget allocations for 2023.
Budget 2023, presented by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to green technology by, among others, enhancing the Green Technology Financing Scheme by increasing the guarantee value to RM3 billion until 2025 and expanding the scope of financing to include the electric vehicle sector with a 60 per cent guarantee limit.
"The distribution of the (maritime and logistics) fund is of the utmost importance, as the majority of industry participants are still in limbo about the fund mechanism and fund utilisation rate," he explained, adding that it is worth mentioning that the fund’s value was reduced to RM1 billion (2021-2023) from RM1.5 billion allocated for 2018-2020.
The Maritime Development and Logistics Scheme is aimed at revitalising and reviving the shipping industry.
In tabling Budget 2023 yesterday, Tengku Zafrul said the RM1 billion Maritime and Logistics Scheme’s scope has been expanded to support oil and gas, shipbuilding, and ship repair.
Budget 2021, tabled in November 2020, extended the Maritime Development and Logistics Scheme, Sustainable Development Financing Scheme, Tourism Infrastructure Scheme and Public Transport Fund until Dec 31, 2023, with a fund size of of RM3.7 billion.
Meanwhile, in 2019, the government relaunched the Maritime Fund (MF 2.0) worth RM1.5 billion through Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd aimed at modernising the country’s maritime sector. - BERNAMA
