Transport Expo Asia To Be Held Biennially With LIMA To Strengthen Transport Industry - Loke

SEPANG, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Transport Expo Asia (TXA), to be held every two years, will serve as a platform for companies involved in various transport-related solutions to showcase their services, especially digital solutions for the industry, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He said TXA 2025, themed “Future on the Move: Digital, Sustainable Transport, Agile Logistics and ESG-Driven Supply Chains”, reflects the major trends shaping the future of transport and logistics sector in Malaysia and across the ASEAN region, and underscores four transformative strategies that will guide the industry in the years ahead.

“This year marks the beginning, where we are introducing this exhibition to the transportation industry, and next year we will be organising this expo on a large scale every two years starting from next year,” he told the media after launching TXA and the Road Safety Congress (RSC) 2025 here, today.

Loke said TXA will run on alternate years with the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA), focusing specifically on the transport sector.

“Previously, the Ministry of Transport was a co-organiser of LIMA together with the Ministry of Defence. But we felt that it would be more appropriate for the Ministry of Transport to focus on a separate exhibition specifically related to the transportation sector, as LIMA is more focused on the defence sector.

“As LIMA continues to grow and exhibition space becoming more limited, it is better for us to free up that space for the defence sector and organise a separate exhibition, which we will call Transport Expo Asia,” he said.

Loke said TXA will serve as an important platform to bring together all industry players and stakeholders in the transport sector, including aviation, maritime, land, heavy vehicles, and logistics segments.

“We want to focus on IT (information technology) companies that can offer digital solutions to meet the needs of the transportation sector, whether in aviation, maritime, or land transport, in relation to the supply chain and how their efficiency can be enhanced through the use of digital tools and technology,” he said.

He also said that TXA is expected to drive greater growth among small and medium enterprises, which can serve as catalysts for solution providers both locally and internationally.

“We see that around the world there are various specialised exhibitions, such as the impressive rail exhibition in Germany. Therefore, we hope that TXA can place Malaysia on the map of international exhibitions,” he said.

When asked about Malaysia’s logistics performance, following the country’s improvement to 26th position in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2023, Loke said logistics should be viewed as a whole and not based on isolated issues (aerotrain services).

“Don’t just pinpoint to one particular area. Logistics is about overall efficiency, our supply chains, land transport and warehousing. Malaysia is very attractive in driving this logistics ecosystem,” he said.

He cited the newly launched Maersk Mega Distribution Centre, one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region, as a reflection of Malaysia’s growing appeal.

“It is a state-of-the-art distribution centre with an estimated RM500 million investment. Such smart logistics centres help improve warehousing, delivery and overall efficiency, which all contribute to Malaysia’s logistics performance index,” he said.

The minister emphasised that Malaysia will continue to attract high-value logistics investments by simplifying business processes and regulations.

“To attract more investment, we need to continuously look at how to make things easier, simplify regulations and facilitate doing business in Malaysia, and for that we have the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business or PEMUDAH. The Transport Ministry fully supports this agenda. As far as I’m concerned, we are here to enable business, not frustrate it.

“The moment you become efficient, you drive down cost and become more effective in facilitating trade. That is our continuous commitment,” he added.

-- BERNAMA