Malaysia has finally reinstated the cabotage policy exemption for foreign ships to conduct laying, maintenance and repairs of submarine telecommunication cables in Malaysian waters effective 1st June 2024. This comes after Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced in March that the Cabinet has agreed to reinstate the policy which was revoked by the previous government.
The cabotage exemption is seen as a big win for tech investments as the decision made by Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong in 2020 was seen as detrimental to Malaysia’s ability to attract telecommunications and digital investors. At the time, several tech giants have raised concerns about the revocation of the cabotage exemption and have reportedly told Dr Wee that they would review their cable investments in Malaysia.
As published on Malaysia’s Federal Legislation portal on 29th May 2024, Transport Minister Anthony Loke has exercised powers conferred by section 65U of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 to exempt non-Malaysian ships from the application of subsection 65KA(1) of the Ordinance in respect of cable laying ships for service of installation, maintenance and repair of submarine telecommunication cable landed at any submarine cable landing centre in Malaysian waters with effect from 1st June 2024.
The exemption would allow foreign ships to carry out urgent undersea cable repairs in Malaysia without the need of applying a Domestic Shipping Licence which takes several days to apply.
Reference : https://soyacincau.com/2024/06/02/malaysia-reinstates-undersea-cable-repair-vessel-cabotage-exemption/