SHIP'S MAIDEN CALL WILL PAVE WAY TO BOOST BILATERAL TRADE

KLANG (Selangor, Malaysia) May 21 (Bernama) -- The maiden call by China
Shipping Container Lines' (CSCL) largest container vessel, CSCL Venus, at
Westports here Saturday will pave the way for China and Malaysia to further
expand trade.

Deputy Finance Minister, Donald Lim Siang Chai, said CSCL has strengthened
its foothold in this region by making Westports its transshipment hub.

"This will also help Westports in its bid to become more competitive," he
said at the ceremony to welcome the maiden call by CSCL Venus.

Earlier, Westports Malaysia chief executive officer, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam,
said throughput from China has grown from 50,000 twentyfoot equivalent units
(TEUs) in 1998 to 600,000 TEUs last year.

"The process of developing large capacity vessels by CSCL has also attained
a new momentum, with their local office growing in tandem to cater to this
expansion," he said.

He said Westports would build another 900 metres of berth to expand the
port.

"Under the expansion plan, the first 300 metres will be ready by end of
next year while the remainder 600 metres would be done by middle of 2013.

"The 900-metre berth will be complemented with 11 new cranes which will
bring the total number of cranes to 54," he said.