KUCHING: Bintulu Port is not affected by the United States (US) tariffs, as the port does not have significant direct trade exposure with the US.
Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad (BPHB) president and Group chief executive officer Datuk Ruslan Abdul Ghani said the port’s trade activities are largely centred on China, Japan and several European countries.
“We are not quite affected by that because we don’t actually trade with the US a lot. We trade more with China and some European countries,” he said when met at the BPHB media appreciation event on Wednesday (Feb 11).
He added that most products handled at Samalaju Industrial Port, for instance, are destined for the East, particularly China and Japan.
“So we are not quite affected by that. But if China and Japan are affected by US tariffs, then obviously we will be affected. But so far, for the last year or so, we have not seen that great of an impact to us. We are mostly quite protected by the US tariff,” he said.
On digitalisation efforts, Ruslan said BPHB is making significant strides towards becoming a fully digitalised port by 2030, with full automation targeted by 2050.
He said over the past three years, the port operator has implemented various digital initiatives, beginning with the installation of a smart gate system and licence plate recognition technology.
“At the moment, we are installing our port operating system. It is state-of-the-art and employs what is being used in Shanghai, in line with what they use at Yangshan Port, in order for us to implement a fully integrated port operating system,” he said.
The system, he added, will enable customers to adopt more advanced methods of operation while improving internal efficiency.
BPHB has also introduced a marine system to better manage vessel movements, enhanced its CCTV network and deployed drone technology including a “nested drone” system, making it the first port operator in Malaysia to do so.
Ruslan said the port operating system has been implemented at Samalaju Industrial Port since September last year and is expected to be fully completed at Bintulu Port and Bintulu Port’s Biport container terminal by April this year.
The company is also in the process of installing a digital twin system, which would place Bintulu Port among the first in Malaysia to adopt such technology in port operations.
“That is not so much because we want to chase digital. The idea of going digital is we want to increase our efficiency and our productivity, which at the end of the day will benefit our customers,” he said.
