KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Malaysia has offered its maritime training institutes as a platform for close collaboration with Chinese experts with a view to developing a maritime training hub for the Asean region.
In a statement today, the Transport Ministry said the governments of Malaysia and China were discussing the mechanism of the collaboration, including the hosting of the regional programme.
The cooperation aimed to leverage on collective resources which would certainly benefit other Asean member states, it said.
The statement was issued after the meeting between Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Chuantang, on the sidelines of the 20th Asean Transport Ministers Meeting in Mandalay, Myanmar.
The ministry noted that in the past, China had offered technical assistance and numerous capacity-building programmes, providing maritime training and education to Asean members, particularly in the training of seafarers.
The statement said discussions also focused on the ongoing underwater search operation for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which went missing with 239 people on board while en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.
Liow reiterated that MH370 remained a top priority, and the government of Malaysia was fully dedicated to continuing the search along with the governments of China and Australia.
“Malaysia is humbled and grateful for the tremendous support given by China thus far in our time of need. China continues to make available a host of valuable assets and resources as part of the search efforts,” he said.
Liow noted that China’s survey vessel Zhu Khezhen collaborated in the survey operations to gather data from the seafloor in the southern Indian Ocean, where the Malaysian Boeing 777 is believed to have gone down.
“This is a clear reflection of the strength of Malaysia-China ties,” he said.
He also said that Qinzhou Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had become a sister port of Kuantan, underpinning the close and viable cooperation between the two countries.
“The two ports will cooperate in various fields, including shared shipping lanes, logistics, information exchange and talent training,” he added. — Bernama
