Northport inks sister port pact with Weifang Sime Darby

BEIJING: MMC Corp Bhd’s indirect subsidiary Northport (Malaysia) Bhd (Northport) and China-based Weifang Sime Darby Port Co Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a sister port relationship, whereby both parties will cooperate in port management and facilitate halal trade shipment between Malaysia and China.
Both Northpoint and Weifang (a unit of Sime Darby Logistics) will jointly carry out commercial and promotional activities and establish the necessary facilities to attract companies in shipping and related industries in Malaysia and China while also sharing experiences, capabilities and resources in the fields of port management and related activities.
Sime Darby Bhd’s president and group CEO Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said the partnership has great potential to capture a slice of the fast growing halal market.
“Halal is big business and this partnership aims to capture a market that is growing by 10% a year. Weifang Port is strategically located in the prime region of the Bohai Sea economic belt, offering a major access into China’s hinterland,” he said in a statement.
“The cooperation and collaboration for the establishment of a sister port relationship is aimed at boosting the roles of both ports in conjunction with the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ and the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiatives,” said Northport chairman Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh.
He said Northport’s strategic location on the Malacca Straits has made it a suitable gateway to provide integration of logistics services entirely to halal entrepreneurs wishing to market their products to China.
Weifang which has the potential to be a gateway and future halal hub for Korean and Japanese markets, is actively expanding its business into the halal industry while its close proximity to the One Belt One Road network provides it with an added advantage to a proposed “halal corridor” linking the Muslim regions in China namely Henan, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang.