Malaysia intends to set up a cold storage air freight hub in Sabah state on Malaysian Borneo to boost its seafood exports to the Greater China area, as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to increase shipments of key exports to its largest trading partner.
Logistics plays a vital role in Malaysia’s strategy to position itself as the gateway to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc, leveraging its central position in the region to promote trade and commerce between Southeast Asia and the world.
Air freight is the next step to grow Sabah state’s fisheries industry, allowing for quick and direct access to China’s market, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.
“Sabah produces a lot of seafood products, a lot of fisheries which can be exported to China,” Loke said at the Malaysia China Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
“This is something we are looking at, to upgrade and to develop Kota Kinabalu into a cold chain cargo facility to serve the larger China market,” he said, referring to Sabah’s capital city.
Sabah accounts for about a quarter of the country’s total fisheries output, according to the state government.