Maguindanao port increases links with Vietnam, Malaysia

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Recent improvements in the operation of the Maguindanao International Port hastened its connectivity with traders in Vietnam and Malaysia, a ranking port official said Wednesday.

Hexsan Mabang, senior executive of the Regional Ports Management Authority in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said another big shipment of cement from Vietnam, in fact, arrived at the Maguindanao port in Parang town in Maguindanao two weeks ago.

The cement shipment was ferried in by a foreign vessel, he added.

The latest shipment of 550,000 bags of cement from Vietnam was the second since the last quarter of 2015.

The imported cement was produced by the Halong Cement Joint Stock Company, which has a Philippine Quality Standard Mark License Q1969, issued by the central office of the Department of Trade and Industry.

"This is the second shipment in just a matter of months, an indication that a big cement manufacturer, for construction use, has confidence in our port operation and in the trading climate of ARMM," Mabang said.

Mabang said credit has to go to the administration of Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman, who is responsible for revitalizing the operation of the Maguindanao port, almost moribund during the time of past ARMM chief executives.

"We can boast with pride and honor the Hataman administration's 'anti-red tape rules' in managing the Maguindanao port," Mabang said.

He said the ARMM government generated P1.9 million in revenues from the latest cement shipment from Vietnam.