Reconnoitering the contributions of dry ports on the regional development in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Changes in supply chain are critical for Malaysia's inclusion in the competitiveness in this era of globalisation. One of the prevalent infrastructure developments is the addition of dry ports in remote areas, targeted to enhance the hubs and connection with significant seaports worldwide. However, the regional development especially on the east-coast of Peninsular Malaysia is trailing behind in terms of quality infrastructure, employability, job growth and quality of life. Economic development must be balanced on both the east-coast and west-coast to ensure this region progresses in the right direction towards economic equality. Therefore, this paper attempts to analyse the potential contributions of enhancing regional development in Peninsular Malaysia. A comprehensive assessment of the existing literature on Malaysian dry ports developments and components concerning the regional development has been conducted. The nexus between dry ports and regional development is then illustrated in a conceptual framework. The framework indicates that dry ports provide long-term and short-term benefits from the regional development perspective. In the short run, dry ports enhance seaport accessibility, boost production volume, increase the employment rate, and attract more investment. These findings will become the benchmark for future research and significant policy-making approaches to enhance regional development in Malaysia.

KEYWORDS:

• Dry ports
• regional development
• Malaysia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is conducted under the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (UMT/RMIC/FRGS/1/2019/59603) and the University of Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) for providing research facilities.

Notes on contributors

Jagan Jeevan

Jagan Jeevan is a senior lecturer in Faculty of Maritime Studies at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

Raden Aswin Rahadi

Raden Aswin Rahadi is an Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung (SBM-ITB).

Izyan Munirah Mohd Zaideen

Izyan Munirah Mohd Zaideen is a senior lecturer in Faculty of Maritime Studies at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh is a senior lecturer in Faculty of Maritime Studies at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

Mohamad Rosni Othman

Mohamad Rosni Othman is an Associate Professor in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. His research interest is focused on the monitoring performance and developing the innovation policy for the maritime clusters, logistics and transport industry.