Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436

National ocean policyFnew opportunities for Malaysian ocean

development
Abdul Hamid Saharuddin*
Department of Management and Marketing, University College of Science and Technology Malaysia, Mengabang Telipot, Kuala Terengganu,
21030 Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract

Being a littoral state, Malaysian maritime sectors provide the basis for the growth and development of marine-related activities.
As the country enters the new millennium along with the ‘2020 Vision’ which serves as the basic template against which the economic
performance of these sectors should be judged, it poses a new challenge for Malaysia in developing these sectors. This paper
attempts to address three basic issues: Firstly, is there any national ocean policy in place? Secondly, are the maritime sectors
adequately organized to play an important role in achieving the objectives? Thirdly, what are the opportunities available in
developing the ocean?
It can be seen that existing policies to develop comprehensive ocean governance have not received the full attention they deserve.
Organizational structures governing the ocean for implementing national policies are well in place but in a fragmented and
uncoordinated fashion. As a result, sectoral and intersectoral management problems were created such as multiple-use conflicts,
overlapping of jurisdiction and duplication of efforts. Environmental problems have also not been properly addressed. A few sectors
have been identified as offering opportunities to further develop the Malaysian maritime areas. Among these are marine education
and human resources development, marine tourism and the seafood industry. r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ocean development; Ocean policy; Maritime management; Multi-use conflict; National legislation; Institutional arrangement

1. Introduction and naval administration and defence have dominated

The importance of the maritime sector in Malaysia is
increasingly being acknowledged and recognized by the
government. Being a littoral state surrounded by a vast
maritime area, this sector provides the basis for the
growth and development of marine-related activities
ranging from marine fishing to crude petroleum and
natural gas production and sea transport services. The
advent of a vast reserve of marine resources, which have
still not been optimally exploited, has provided a strong
impetus for the government to accord a strong emphasis
to the development of this sector. The Second Outline
Perspective Plan 1991–2000, which singles out the
maritime sector, whose potential has not been fully
utilized, has accordingly laid out some strategies for its
development over the plan period.
Thus far, a few industrial activities including ocean
and coastal shipping transportation, crude petroleum
and natural gas extraction, inland and deep-sea fishing
*Tel.: +60-9-6683207, +60-9-6683100; fax: +60-9-6692191.
E-mail address: sdin@uct.edu.my (A.H. Saharuddin).
the maritime sector. The recent periods have seen the
emergence and the development of a range of non-
traditional and new marine-based and related activities
such as marine eco-tourism, marine education, sports
and recreation, manufacture of seafood and marine
engines. The contributions of these industrial activities
to the Malaysian economy will be dealt with in the
following section. However, as noted by Aziz et al. [1],
there are indications that many of these industrial
activities are still in the stage of infancy at this juncture
compared with the assembly manufacturing activities
like textiles, electronics and electrical products and
clothing.
Fourteen years after the final meeting of The UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea at Montego Bay,
Malaysia finally ratified the convention on 16th October
1996. This has resulted in Malaysia gaining control over
a continental shelf of 373,500 km2 and an Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) of 475,600 km2. As shown in
Table 1, the importance of the ocean to Malaysia is also
self-evident in that the maritime areas that Malaysia has
acquired are significantly larger than the combined

0308-597X/01/$ - see front matter r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 0 8 - 5 9 7 X ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 7 - 6
428 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
Table 1
Malaysia maritime areas
Total land area 332,800 km2
Maritime areas
EEZ 475,600 km2
MTW 148,307 km2
Total 623,907 km2
Length of coastline
Peninsular Malaysia 1737 km
Sabah/Sarawak 2753 km
Total 4490 km
landmasses of putting together the Malay Peninsula,
Sabah and Sarawak. Further, the total maritime area
including a relatively long coastline, has provided a
diversity of natural sea resources and other beneficial
economic values as well as important life-support
ecological functions to the country.
Malaysia also sits astride one of the world’s busiest
sea routes, the Straits of Malacca, which links Southeast
and Northeast Asia, Asia and Western Europe and Asia
and North America. Malaysia itself is highly trade
dependent and Malaysian prosperity is dependent upon
protection of the freedom of navigation. At the same
time Malaysia seeks adequate protection for its interests
as a Straits State.
Now, when H.E. Prime Minister of Malaysia elabo-
rated the ‘Vision 2020’, it serves as the basic template
against which the performance of all sectors of the
Malaysian economy should be judged [2]. As a result,
this vision has profound implications for the marine
sectors too. However, in the assessment of Malaysia’s
present situation within the context of certain policy
shifts and trends occurring within Malaysia, few
questions arise; firstly, so far has there been any national
ocean policy governing the maritime sectors as Malaysia
enters the new millennium? Secondly, as noted by Miles
[3], is the marine sector in the Malaysian economy
adequately organized to play its part in achieving the
goals of ‘Vision 2020’? Thirdly, what are the new
opportunities for Malaysia if it envisages becoming a
developed maritime nation as one of its major national
policy objectives? These are the issues, which this paper
addresses.
2. Current status of maritime sector
For centuries, the maritime areas have always been
important to Malaysia and economic activities have
blossomed based on the maritime sector which have
contributed significantly to Malaysia’s economic
growth. The challenges to sustain economic growth for
the Malaysian economy are clearly laid out in the
Seventh Malaysian Plan. Three of the challenges facing
the nation which have implications in the management
of the maritime sector are [4]:
1. A global approach to industrialization allowing firms
to venture into large-scale operations to gain scale
economies by exporting to world markets.
2. Maintaining and enhancing competitiveness in the
face of changing market preferences that require
reinforcing the nation’s competitive foundation and
strengthening infrastructure.
3. Developing a modern, dynamic and outward oriented
services sector to become a major catalyst for growth
and a potential for export of services in international
trade.
The most important maritime sectors that are
considered to be the major players in developing this
sector and have contributed to the economy are as
below.
2.1. Ocean and coastal shipping
The shipping sector can be divided into two compo-
nents, ocean and coastal shipping. Coastal shipping
includes a large number of smaller vessels under the
categories of small fishing boats, landing craft, pleasure
boats, barges and harbour craft, whereas ocean shipping
comprises bulk carriers, chemical tankers, container
ships and LNG carriers. The nation’s foreign trade and
even domestic trade between Peninsular Malaysia and
East Malaysia are completely dependent on the avail-
ability of these maritime transport facilities. It is
estimated that about 90% of the total value of the
country’s external trade is shipped by way of maritime
transport and in terms of volume, the dependency on
this mode of transport would be even higher [5].
During the earlier stage, the establishment of MISC in
1968, followed by setting up of PNSL and Domestic
Shipping and Licensing Board has clearly indicated the
increased importance of the shipping sector to the
economy. The introduction of the cabotage policy was
no doubt aimed at serving the highly important trade
between the West and East Malaysia. Since then, the
overall tonnage of domestic vessels has increased from
500,000 grt in 1990 to 1.4 million grt in 1999 [6].
2.2. Shipbuilding and ship repairing
This industry is considered as being fairly new and is
being promoted as part of heavy industrialization under
the Industrial Master Plan. A survey has shown that
most of the shipyards and ship repair facilities started
operations in the 1970s and the 1980s. Currently, there
are about 65 shipyards and repair establishments
registered in Malaysia. Most of them have an installed
capacity of o1500 dwt.
 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
Local shipbuilding facilities are concentrated mainly
in Johore and Penang in Peninsular Malaysia and in
some parts of Sabah and Sarawak. The advent of a
fairly large number of dockyards in East Malaysia can
be attributed to the high demand for riverine transpor-
tation and also to activities associated with offshore oil
and gas exploration [1].
In view of the growing volume of the country’s
seaborne trade and an increasingly ageing fleet, the role
of these sectors is increasingly becoming more important
in the new future.
2.3. Port services
As a consequence of trade expansion and globaliza-
tion of the economy, local ports are playing an
increasingly vital role in the Malaysian economy
particularly since the mid-1980s. During the period
1980–1990, there was a four-fold increase in the total
cargo traffic, with Kelang Port being the busiest port,
handling a quarter of the nation’s trade volume. At
present, there are 12 major and seven smaller ports at
which 90% of international trade is conducted. Volume
of cargo handled is estimated to increase from 152.3
million tonnes in 1995 to about 255 million tonnes in
2001. The number of ship calls is expected to increase by
4.6% i.e. from 70,098 in 1995 to about 87,860 in the year
2001 [6, pp. 28–29].
2.4. Offshore oil and gas
The extraction of crude oil and natural gas in
Malaysia is almost entirely offshore. Since its pioneering
development in the early 1970s, the oil and gas sector
has grown impressively to become an engine of growth
for the Malaysian economy. At present 695,000 barrels
of oil and 17,610 barrels of LNG are produced per day,
respectively, this is about 20% and 50% increase from
1990. In 1998, this has contributed about 5.2% of the
country’s GDP, which accounted for about 35% of
government total revenue. At the current levels of
production, it is estimated that oil and gas reserves will
last about 17 and 100 yr, respectively [7].
2.5. Inshore and offshore fisheries
In 1997, the total production of fisheries amounted to
1.3 million tonnes which was valued at about RM4.35
billion. This has contributed about 1.6% to the national
GDP. It was estimated that the total fish production in
the years 2000 and 2010 are 1.58 and 1.93 million
tonnes, respectively [8].
429
2.6. Naval defence and other enforcement agencies
This category can be classified as a public good and
not as an economic good. Its contribution should be
viewed on the basis of its primary role in providing
maritime security, law and order. There are five main
agencies involved in maritime enforcement and is
supported by five other small agencies such as Depart-
ment of Environment and Customs. At present, the
overall assets used for enforcement are estimated to be
worth about RM365 billion.
3. The institutional structure for the maritime sector
Now, how is the present institutional structure for
policy decision on national maritime matters? It can be
seen in Table 2 [9] that at least 14 ministries, which
include the Prime Minister’s Department, Ministry of
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and Ministry of
Entrepreneur Development and over 26 departments/
units/authorities are responsible for the management of
the maritime sector. The responsibility sometimes over-
laps and could be as large as the management of fishery
or a forest reserve or as small as the management of a
research station or a landing port as shown in Table 3.
4. The legal framework of Malaysian maritime
management
A survey by MIMA [10] has revealed that there are at
least 74 national laws at present pertaining to maritime
management. This does not include about 35–40
subsidiary legislative items and by-laws which are
enforceable with some of the major laws such as the
Environmental Quality Act 1984 and Fisheries Act
1985. These laws provide the legal framework for about
14 different aspects ranging from ports, marine re-
sources, environment, telecommunications, finance and
education.
In the international arena, Malaysia has already
ratified at least 21 UN Conventions and 13 IMO
Conventions [6, pp. 57–58]. Three Conventions are
subject to ratification, 10 Conventions are under
consideration for ratification and another 10 Conven-
tions are recommended for ratification by Malaysia.
5. Some issues and problems in the maritime sector
Malaysia’s coastal area is probably the most produc-
tive geographical area of the country. Apart from
hosting a variety of ecosystems, Malaysia’s coastal areas
are often preferred sites for economic and development
activities. However, the presence of many economic
430 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436

Table 2
National Ocean Policy Divisiona

Ministry Department/agencies Division/councils

Ministry of Transport Marine Department Peninsular Malaysia National Shipping Council

Marine Department Sabah
Marine Department Sarawak
Penang Port Commission
Klang Port Authority
Johor Port Authority
Kuantan Port Authority
Kemaman Port Authority
Bintulu Port Authority

Ministry of Agriculture Department of Fisheries National Advisory Council for Marine Park
and Marine Reserve
Fisheries Development Authority
of Malaysia (LKIM)

Prime Minister’s Department Economic Planning Unit National Petroleum Advisory Council
National Maritime Council
Maritime Enforcement and Coordinating
Centre

Ministry of Education Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Ungku Omar Polytechnic

Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism Malaysia Tourism Board

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Economic Division Maritime Affairs Unit

Policy and Planning Division

Attorney General’s Chamber Advisory and International Division

Ministry of Finance Internal Tax Division Secretariat for Cabinet Committee on Trade
and Service

Ministry of Science, Technology and Department of Environment National Oil Spill Control Committee
Environment

Ministry of Defence Royal Malaysian Navy Hydrographic Survey Department

Ministry of Home Affairs Royal Malaysian Police Marine Unit

Ministry of Land and Cooperative Department of Survey and Mapping

Development
Department of Director General of Lands
and Mines

Ministry of International Trade Malaysian National Shipper’s Council

and Industry
a
Source: Wong HW, op cited, Ref. [9].

activities often conflict with the natural environments of
coastal areas. The subject of multiple use conflict has yet
to be studied extensively in Malaysia though there is
sufficient evidence from literature, newspaper articles
and general studies such as National Conservation
Strategy [11] which suggest that such a problem exists
and needs to be addressed through policy management
actions. Understanding the nature of these conflicts is an
important step towards the development of policies to
address them. Some of the issues concerning the above
matters will be briefly explained further in the following
section.
5.1. Ports and shipping
With respect to the ports, there exist 10 port
management authorities, where six are federal and four
within the jurisdiction of the respective states. In
addition, the Marine Department is responsible for over
80 minor ports and landing places all over Malaysia.
 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436 431

Table 3
Matrix of public function and maritime activitiesa

Public Policy Coordination Administration Developmental International

functions/activities formulation and enforcement relations

Ports MOT MOT MOT, Marine Dept., MOT, EPU MOT

Federal and State PA
Shipping MOT, MOF, EPU, MOT MOT, Marine Dept., MOT, EPU, MOF, MOT, MOF, MOFA,
SRB NSC, MNSC, SRB SRB AG’s
Shipbuilding EPU
Ship repair EPU
Fisheries and living DOF DOF, MECC DOF DOF, LKIM DOF, MOFA
resources
Offshore oil and gas PM’s Dept., EPU PM’s Dept., EPU PM’s Dept., EPU PM’s Dept., EPU PM’s Dept., EPU,
MOFA
Other marine industries/ DDGLM
non-liv. res.
Marine tourism MOCAT MOCAT, DOF MOCAT, DOF MOCAT
Coastal zone management EPU EPU DID, DOF EPU
Marine environmental MOSTE, DOE MOSTE, DOE DOE, MD, DOF, RMN, MOSTE, DOE MOSTE, MOFA
management MP, PERHILITAN
Macrosectoral planning EPU EPU EPU
Maritime surveillance M0T, MD, MECC MD, RMN, MP MOT, MOFA, RMN MOFA, MOT
DOE RMN
Maritime safety MOT, MOFA, MECC MD, RMN, MP MOT, MOFA, RMN MOFA, MOT
RMN
Maritime education MOE ALAM
Research and development PM’s Dept., MOT MIMA PM’s Dept.
a
MOTFMinistry of Transport; EPUFEconomic Planning Unit; PAFPort Authority; MOFFMinistry of Finance; MOFAFMinistry of
Foreign Affairs; SRBFSarawak River Board; NSCFNational Shipping Council; MNSCFMalaysia National Shippers Council; AG’sFAttorney
General; DOFFDepartment of Fisheries; MECCFMaritime Enforcement and Coordinating Centre; LKIMFLembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia;
DDGLMFDepartment of Director General of Land and Mines; MOCATFMinistry of Culture, Arts and Tourism; DIDFDepartment of
Irrigation and Drainage; MOSTEFMinistry of Science, Technology and Environment; DOEFDepartment of Environment; MDFMarine
Department; RMNFRoyal Malaysian Navy; PERHILITANFWildlife Protection and National Park Department; MOEFMinistry of Education;
ALAMFAkademi Laut Malaysia; MIMAFMaritime Institute of Malaysia.
Source: Miles E, op cited, Ref. [3, p. 52]).

Mixing of authorities between the state, federal and the
private sector has resulted in uncoordinated port
planning and development. With respect to shipping,
which policy option Malaysia is adopting is unclear. As
illustrated in Table 4, the shipping sector is managed by
various agencies. Also, due to shipping, it has been
publicized that there is a deficit on the current account
particularly in the services budget. At present, only 15%
of exported containerized goods are carried on Malay-
sian ships. In ship repairing and shipbuilding, Malaysia
still faces higher material cost, slower labour productiv-
ity, lower efficiency, and the absence of support
industries relative to competitors. The national cabotage
policies also presently do not support development of
efficient and competitive ship repair and ship building
industries [11, p. 11].
5.2. Fishery resources
With respect to fisheries, fishing effort in the inshore
areas is still significantly in excess of the available yield.
In 1998, the inshore fisheries contributed a total of 1.3
million metric tonnes, which represent about 88.8% of
the total marine landings [12]. Although the develop-
ment of potential offshore resources seems to be the
alternative, the database on available resources has yet
to be looked into further. There also exists conflict
jurisdiction and sometimes overlapping of functions
between several federal ministries and state governments
in managing the coastal zone areas as well as
maintenance of wetlands, mangroves and seagrass
habitats which are crucial to the sustainability of
fisheries.
There seems to be competing jurisdictions and
functions between some federal and state departments
such as fisheries, environment, state forestry and marine.
One of the main problems is the inadequate specification
of authority, which has resulted in each agency being
incapable of coordinating with the others. One obvious
example is the protection of turtles. While the protection
of the marine and coastal environment and ecosystems
is the responsibility of the Federal Government, the
protection of turtles under the constitution is a state
responsibility regardless of where they are. Another
example is while specific ecosystems that consists of
mangroves, coastal forest and corals, which make up an
432 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
Table 4
Institutional framework in the implementation of Malaysian Shipping Policya
Ministry, agency, unit
Implementation and Coordination Unit, Prime Minister’s Department
Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department
Ministry of Transport
Maritime Division
Marine Department
Ministry of Entrepreneur Development
Ministry of Finance
The Custom and Excise Department
Inland Revenue Department
a
Source: Wong HE, op cited, Ref. [9].
estuary are protected and managed by law, the estuary
as a whole is not. Therefore, it is obvious that without
coordination from the highest level to implement an
integrated approach this critical problem will still
prevail.
5.3. Environmental degradation
Marine environmental problems seem to be the most
serious problem faced by Malaysia if the true cost of
ocean development is to be reflected. It has been
recognized that the Malaysian coastal environment is
increasingly being threatened by pollution with oil and
grease as the major pollutants. This has brought about
some severe ecological and socioeconomic impacts on
the coastal areas particularly the Straits of Malacca [13].
The areas of potential conflict, which may arise in
resource rich areas as a result of the discharge of
pollutants into the marine environment, are shown in
Fig. 1. It has also been reported by Basiron [14] based
on the Environmental Quality Report, that the overall
marine and river water quality has deteriorated over the
long term.
At present, there is no agency which has the authority
to deal with the full scale of marine pollution problems,
which the country faces. So far DOE’s focus is on inland
waters i.e. industrial discharges and it has only limited
jurisdiction over the rivers, which become the main
pathway of land-based pollution of the coastal environ-
ment. Although the EQ Act of 1974 is in place, authority
over rivers is fragmented between the Federal Govern-
Roles and functions
Responsible for MISC, PNSL, ALAM and Petronas
Responsible for the allocation of funds to organizations in the industry
and for making policy decisions for development
Privatizations of ports
Provide secretariat for the National Shipping Council and is responsible
for the National Maritime Council
This division is responsible to plan, develop, and execute legislation,
policies and programmes related to shipping and ports
All legislation, including the Merchant Shipping Ordinance. This includes
all matters relating to safety. The Marine Department also has
responsibility for ports and landing places
Responsible for the development of national shipyards (MARA & MSE)
Licensing of haulage and trucks
Introduction of fiscal measures relating to the maritime industry and
provision of ship financing established under bank industry, a fund for the
acquisition of vessels
Responsible for imports and export matters and involved in the
implementation of EDI
Introduction and interpretation of tax legislation relating to the activities
of ship-owners
ment and the states. Besides having no capacity to
handle pollution incidents in the EEZ areas, DOE does
not have the authority to deal with coastal habitat
degradation, biodiversity losses and adverse impacts on
corals. Adding to this problem, the EEZ areas at present
do not have a single national comprehensive monitoring
programme to deal with any major incident of pollution
besides the irregular air surveillance by the maritime
enforcement agencies.
5.4. Enforcement and surveillance of the maritime area
The national needs for maritime surveillance and
enforcement encompass defending and safeguarding
national sovereignty and sovereign rights in the ocean;
protecting maritime resources, safeguarding Malaysia’s
SLOC, given its interest as a maritime nation; curbing
illegal immigration; and controlling marine pollution.
Among the highest priorities are defence and protection
of marine resources [15].
As shown in Table 5, the national laws are
implemented by several different agencies. The direct
involvement of these agencies in enforcing the law may
lead to different interpretation of the laws. As there are
many enforcement agencies operating in the two
maritime zonesFMTW and EEZ, enforcing the na-
tional maritime law between several agencies in similar
jurisdictional areas has been conflicting and inadequate.
For example, under the present arrangement, the Royal
Malaysian Navy has been delegated from the fisheries
department to undertake fisheries enforcement espe-
 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
Fig. 1. Area of concern: threat of pollution to the coastal zone (Source: Forbes V and Basiron MN. Malaysia’s maritime space: an analytical atlas of
the environment and resources 1998, MIMA Publication).
cially to arrest illegal fishermen. Under sections 27 and
29 of EQ Act 1974, the Navy has also been delegated to
deal with marine pollution. However, the Navy is not
trained substantively for such tasks and this constabu-
lary function is not their primary role [16].
The establishment of a coordinating body such as the
Malaysian Enforcement Coordinating Centre (MECC)
has become difficult and limited in maritime operation
as the mechanism has no command functions. There
seems to be resentment on the part of at least one agency
that the enforcement burden is unequally shared. Unless
the MECC is given the actual command authority, this
problem cannot be alleviated.
5.5. Lack of vital information and data
The importance of quality data and information in
sea management is one of the most important compo-
nents of the process to develop management plans and
433
policies. Information capture, analysis, storage and
dissemination are crucial processes in the management
of a database. Although information concerning coastal
resources and environments is obtainable, much avail-
able data are in the form of inventories (forest resources,
fisheries landings, etc.) rather than data which capture
processes and changes in ocean/coastal areas and
resources.
In order to facilitate management and policy deci-
sions, a good understanding of the nature of manage-
ment of a resource or area is important and therefore,
inventory data are probably less important than data
concerning coastal dynamics and fish populations.
On the other hand, there is also a need to conduct
inventories of certain types of marine and coastal
resources. For example, the data on marine biological
diversity in Malaysia are far from complete and without
such data, resource managers will find it difficult to
determine how marine biological diversity in general
434 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436

Table 5
Maritime enforcement, surveillance responsibility and operation areaa

Agency Ministry National legislations Operation area

Fisheries Department Agriculture Fisheries Act 1985 MTW, EEZ

Royal Malaysian Navy Defence Fisheries Act 1985 EEZ

EEZ Act 1984
Environmental Quality Act 1984
Armed Forces Act 1972
Continental Shelf Act 1972
Internal Security Act 1960
Penal Code

Malaysian Police Home Affairs Police Act 1967 MTW

Penal Code
MSO 1952
Environmental Quality Act 1974
Customs Act 1967
Immigration Act 1959/63
Dangerous Drug Act 1952
Explosive Act 1957
Firearms Act
Continental Shelf Act 1966
Extra Territorial Offices Act 1976
Emergency (E. Powers) Act 1979

Dept. of Environment Science and technology Environmental Quality Act 1974 MTW

Custom Dept. Finance Customs Act 1967 MTW

Marine Dept. Transport Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 MTW

Mechant Shipping Order 1984
Federal Port Rules, 1953
Light Dues Act 1981
Petroleum Act (Safety Rules),1984

RAMF Defence None, only air surveillance EEZ

Police Air Wing Home Affairs None, only air surveillance MTW
a
Source: Iskandar S, op cited, Ref. [16].

and certain species or ecosystems in particular are
coping with threats. Presently, the available datasets and
databases located in government agencies are not linked
to one another, and to gain access to the data can be a
difficult and prolonged process.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that, though Malaysia has
a considerable stake in the ocean, the existing policies,
and the institutional and legal framework for developing
comprehensive ocean governance have not received the
attention they deserve. It can be seen that many of the
problems are between the sectors (intersectoral) or
within the sectors (sectoral). Evidence has shown that
concentration of activities within the Malaysian coastal
zone as well as the EEZ areas has reached a density,
largely on the West Coast of the Peninsula, which brings
about multiple use conflicts within sectors e.g. fisheries
vs. oil and gas, shipping vs. oil and gas, industrial and
commercial activities vs. recreation and tourism, land
based activities vs. fisheries and development of shrimp
aquaculture vs. conservation of mangroves [3, pp. 8–9].
The organizational structures governing the ocean are
well established but in a very fragmented and uncoor-
dinated fashion. As illustrated in Tables 2 and 3 above,
the structure of the policy division can be seen as
demonstrating a lack of integrative capacity for
formulating and implementing national ocean policy
and the absence of mechanisms to deal with multiple use
conflicts. There exists a high degree of fragmentation of
authority and responsibility in the current institutional
design both vertically and horizontally. This has caused
uncoordinated development patterns within marine
sectors, which have resulted in inadequate attention
 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
given to all components of the entire sector. If Malaysia
wants to adopt a global approach to industrialization,
maintain and enhance competitiveness and develop an
outward oriented services sector then the linkages
among the maritime sectors need to be improved. The
focus is to link all sectors with national policies and
coordinate the infrastructural development, keeping
pace with development both on a national and global
basis.
Safeguarding the marine environment can be con-
sidered the most urgent because in the long run,
sustainable use of the national marine areas cannot be
achieved without major development in solving the
pollution and other related problems.
As for accessibility and availability of important
scientific data, it is opportune to consider the establish-
ment of a nation-wide data system for marine manage-
ment. A standard method for data collection and
distribution should be a long term objective of a nation.
7. New opportunities for ocean development
Considering that Malaysia is in the phase of moving
towards achieving an integrative national ocean policy,
what are the new opportunities to become a developed
maritime nation? Some of the sectors are identified
below.
7.1. Marine tourism
This is considered a relatively new industry especially
eco-tourism. The existence of good clean beaches,
enchanting coral reef sites off the marine parks and
opportunity for good recreational marine activities have
recently boosted this industry. The further development
of marine assets, which include the coastlines and
offshore islands as tourist destinations have been given
priority by both the government and the private sector.
The member of tour operators catering for specialized
recreational or tourism activities such as sport fishing,
diving, snorkeling, yachting, sailing which include turtle
watching over recent years is also a reflection of the
growing importance of marine tourism. It was estimated
in 1998 about 5.5 million tourists visited Malaysia for
these purposes and this generated large revenue for the
nation [17].
Although at present, tourism contributes only a small
portion to the national GDP, it is still one of the top five
earners of the country’s foreign exchange. In 1990,
tourism was the third largest foreign exchange earner
after manufactured goods and crude petroleum.
The world market for tourism is exceedingly large.
World spending for travel most of which was for
tourism exceeded US$2 trillion in 1986 [18]. According
to Aziz et al. [1, pp. 20–21], in 1993, 120 applications for
435
the construction of marine-related tourism facilities
were received, which amounted to about RM2 million.
7.2. Education and human resources development
To sustain Malaysia’s development of its marine
potential, investment in education and training, research
and development will be very much required. With the
development of the maritime industries in the country,
skilled and semi-skilled workers are needed to cater for
industrial needs such as boat building and repairing,
manufacturing of marine engines and other related
industries.
More research institutes, marine-related programmes
in the universities and training institutes should be
created to cater for the needs.
7.3. Seafood industry
This industry has become increasingly important.
The demand for fish and fish products as food are
continually increasing. According to FAO, the increase
in world consumption globally is estimated at 0.5–0.3%
per year. With the present rate of fish production, the
world is expected to face a shortage of about 20 million
tonnes of fish for food by the year 2010 [19].
In Malaysia, the increase in demand for fish as food is
reflected in the per capita annual consumption of 45 kg
which compares well with meat consumption at 31.8 kg.
One of the main reasons is that the general public is
getting more health conscious [20]. The demand for fish
is expected to increase further due to the increase in the
human population (1.5% per year), the increasing
perception of fish as a health food and the expected
growth in downstream activities. Based on the projected
per capita consumption and the population growth, the
demand for fish is expected to be 1.7 million tonnes in
the year 2010 [20, pp. 1–2].
One of the alternatives that Malaysia should consider
to overcome the future shortage of food problem is
commercializing the aquaculture industry. The total
potential production from aquaculture as estimated by
the DOF from the estimate of 442,000 ha (mangroves,
mudflats, coastal waters, inland ponds, lakes, and
disused mining pools) is 790,000 mt composed of marine
shrimp, bivalves, brackish and freshwater fishes [21].
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Dr. H.D. Smith of
Department of Earth Sciences, Cardiff University and
Dr. Jonathan Potts of the National Maritime Museum
for making it possible to present this paper at the
Oceans at Millennium Conference at the National
Maritime Museum, London on the 17 April 2000.
436 A.H. Saharuddin / Marine Policy 25 (2001) 427–436
Sincere thanks also to Maritime Institute of Malaysia
(MIMA) for the support in providing the important
publications cited in this paper.
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