Ng said the course, to be conducted at the college’s main campus in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, was a follow-up to a course introduced 18 months ago and tailored for working personnel in the industry.

 

He said the feedback received by the college showed that Malaysian ports and logistics companies supported the idea as the availability of more professionally trained staff would help enhance the industry’s competitiveness, especially with the advent of the Asean Free Trade Area and World Trade Organisation in 2003 and 2010 respectively.

 

“Our objective is to produce more personnel with a high degree of effectiveness within the logistics industry,” Ng said at Tuesday’s graduation ceremony of 37 Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) staff, comprising mainly managers and executives from the operations, finance and logistics sections.

 

Sedaya and PTP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last November to enable the port staff to upgrade their qualification, knowledge and value.

 

Sedaya, which is offering the diploma in joint effort with the Institute of Transport and Administration of University of East London, is the only local college to conduct the course on a part-time basis, and soon, full-time.

 

Ng said about 200 working personnel were currently undertaking the part-time course at the college’s training and development centers in Klang and Penang and authorized centers in Malacca and Negeri Sembilan.

 

He said the college was talking with PTP to turn the port into its authorized center in the southern region.

 

Ng said the college was also talking with the management of Port Klang and Penang Port to conduct the part-time course for personnel from these ports and it was likely to start next year.