PSA to broaden investment plan

The Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) plans to broaden its overseas investment strategy to include warehousing and logistics.

PSA chief executive officer Khoo Teng Chye said: 'We need not necessarily confine ourselves to port management. It is an entry point.

'We can also go into related businesses in which we have the skills and competence to do well.' He said that running a port had given the PSA the skills needed in an operational climate where a high level of information technology was applied.

Some of these skills were needed in the logistics supply chain, he said.

'We are already a warehouse operator [in Singapore], recognised as the best in Asia. So these are areas where we can grow to strengthen our position - by expanding internationally in the core business and into areas of the supply chain,' he said.

To date, the PSA - the best warehouse operator for nine years running in the Asian Freight Industry Awards - does not directly invest in overseas warehousing and logistics projects.

Its associate company CWT Distribution, however, has invested in numerous projects, such as the setting up of container freight stations in Madras and Fuzhou.

'Once we develop . . . the network, the understanding of the culture and environment, and our people are there, there will be other business opportunities that we can take advantage of, either by ourselves or in a joint venture,' he said.

He said that further opportunities in warehousing and logistics would be explored in Singapore as well.

He expected their contribution to PSA's business to grow.

Mr Khoo said the authority would explore all opportunities in its ventures abroad.

He said the PSA's investment in the Dalian Container Terminal had made a good start, with traffic rising 17 per cent in the first six months.

Despite teething problems, the port handled 190,000 20-ft equivalent units (teus) between January and June, compared with 162,000 teus in the year-ago period.

Mr Khoo said several shipping lines had shown an interest in adding Dalian to their routes. This month, shipping agency Uno Corporation is to launch a fortnightly Dalian-Japan reefer service.