During a meeting in the United Kingdom (UK) between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Transport Datuk Hasbi bin Habibollah, Islamabad has proposed establishing direct feeder shipping services with Malaysia to reduce freight costs, shorten transit times and strengthen maritime cooperation, according to a report by Arab News.
Both sides reviewed existing ties and explored collaboration in maritime training, digital systems and port operations.
Chaudhry presented Malaysia with a draft Memorandum of Understanding to enhance seafarer training and introduce a two-way cadet-exchange programme. He said such an arrangement would support the professional development of young seafarers and deepen long-term cooperation in the maritime sector.
Pakistan also invited Malaysia to utilise its growing digital port-modernisation systems, including the Pakistan Single Window platform, which is now fully operational at Karachi Port and Port Qasim. Islamabad has been promoting the system as a tool to increase transparency and reduce cargo-clearance times.
A central part of Pakistan’s proposal is the creation of direct feeder links between Pakistani ports and Malaysia, with onward access to Indonesia. Chaudhry said shorter routes would help Pakistan expand rice exports to Southeast Asia while improving the efficiency of edible oil shipments from Malaysia and Indonesia—two key components of Pakistan’s regional trade.
For Malaysia, the cooperation would add to its maritime training network and support transport-sector modernisation under its regional logistics-integration agenda. Both governments agreed to hold technical consultations in the coming weeks to finalise the MoU, outline training modules and determine mechanisms for the cadet-exchange programme.
