KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): The Transport Ministry is scheduled to meet representatives from tech giant companies Facebook, Google and Amazon Web Services next week to discuss issues surrounding the undersea cable repairs.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said that the meeting is intended to provide clarity and certainty to these IT companies about the government’s position on cabotage policy restrictions for submarine cable repair vessels.
“My role as a minister is to provide certainty and clarity about this policy. Investors they want clarity and we want to provide (it) so that they can make informed investment decisions in Malaysia,” Loke said at the agreement signing ceremony between Malaysia Bunkering Association and Malaysia Shipowners Association on Friday (May 5).
He added the subsea cable issue is just a small part of the entire cabotage policy in which it pertains to complaints of delays for the repair of undersea cables.
“There are few different issues involved with the cabotage policy. Part of the issue that gained media attention is the undersea cable which is just one sub sector. We are actively looking at that. In fact, next week I’m meeting up with IT companies representatives from Facebook, Google and etcetera,” he added.
For perspective, cabotage policy prevents foreign-registered ships or foreign-flagged vessels from operating in the domestic market, which essentially means to protect local companies.
Issues with the Malaysian cabotage policy pertaining to submarine cable repairs came about in mid-November 2020 after previous transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, under his power, revoked exemption for vessels involved in submarine cable repairs.
His predecessor, Loke, had approved submarine cable repair vessels from being exempted from the cabotage laws in March 2019.
This came about after complaints of delays for the repair of undersea cables by tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft, and the national internet exchange body, Malaysian Internet Exchange.
According to these tech behemoths, the requisite domestic shipping licensing exemption, which allows a ship to undertake submarine cable repairs, can take up to 27 days to obtain in Malaysia.
This is in contrast to 20 days in the Philippines, 19 days in Singapore and 12 days in Vietnam.
These tech companies also raised concerns about maritime associations in Malaysia which focused on protecting their members that further delays these approvals.