For Malaysia, a country whose sea area is larger than its landmass, the importance of the sea to its socio-economic wellbeing cannot be overemphasized.  An estimated 95% of its international trade is carried by seaborne transport and almost all of its hydrocarbon resources, which are key revenue earners and contribute significantly to the GDP, come from offshore sources.  Activities such as shipbuilding/repairing, fishery, aquaculture, marine tourism and many supporting activities related to the maritime sector are also important to the country, generating employment, investments and tremendous multiplier effects to the economy.

In this regard, Malaysia’s achievements in developing its marine economy – in particular the port, shipping and offshore oil and gas sectors – have not gone unnoticed by others.  Testimony to this, MIMA constantly receives many scholars and analysts from various countries who are keen to examine and learn about the ‘Malaysian way’ in developing its maritime economic activities.

One such group of scholars was from the prestigious Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) who visited the institute on 4 September 2013.  Led by Zhang Chunyu from the Department of Industrial Policy at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at CASS, the group spent around an hour and a half finding out about the development, policies, strategies and direction of Malaysia’s offshore oil and gas, shipping, port and shipyard sectors.  The delegation also consists of CASS scholars Dr Lu Jin Dr Zheng Liansheng, and Shawn Gao and Darren Peng from China International Marine Containers (CIMC).  They are undertaking a study on the experience of various countries in developing their marine economies, which is taking them to visit several Asia Pacific and European countries. 

From left : Zhang Chunyu, Nazery Khalid, Dr Lu Jin, Shawn Gao, Darren Peng and Dr Zheng Liansheng.

We at MIMA cherish such visits from our foreign counterparts not only for the opportunity it presents for us to share Malaysia’s experience in the maritime sector with them but also to exchange ideas and gain knowledge and insights from them that add value to our work as policy researchers.  MIMA can be heartened with being the ‘go-to’ institute for scholars and researchers conducting research on maritime-related issues, which augurs well with our aim of becoming a center of excellence in maritime policy research.