• IDENTIFICATION
• LEGAL CLUSTERS
• GEOGRAPHIC CLUSTERS
• TRADE CLUSTERS
• ENVIRONMENT CLUSTERS
• OTHER FACTORS

I. Identification

1. The Issue

2. Description

Why was Sepang chosen?
One of the reason KLIA Sepang was chosen as the preferred location for this mega project is due to its strategic location that is suitable for the development of road and rail infrastructures. It is located at the top of the southern corridor of Peninsular Malaysia, bordering the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. Hence, access between this new airport, Kuala Lumpur and other major towns has been a major consideration in the development plans. With the new airport, the nation's administration center (Putrajaya) will be closer to the airport. They are only about 20 minutes away from each other. Other places under the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) are Cyberjaya and the Sepang Formula 1 circuit.

Proximity to Putrajaya.
The relocation of Malaysia's premier gateway will not affect the proximity of the airport to the nation's administrative center. In fact, the hub of administration will be closer now with its relocation in Putrajaya, just 20 minutes away from KLIA Sepang. All the government agencies and ministries will be located in the Putrajaya. By placing them together in one area, all administrative works will be more effective and efficient. Foreign delegations to Malaysia will also enjoy this convenience. In other words, it could save time and costs for everyone as well as bringing Malaysia image to a higher ground.


2.3) Environment:

Architecture:

The new airport presents a distinctive example of beautiful and functional airport architecture, incorporating the theme of a symbiotic relationship between high technology and Malaysian identity. It will incorporate forms and systems suggesting advancements and modernization while at the same time, support Malaysia's cultural history.

Airport in forest:
Adopting the theme "airport in the forest" and "forest in airport", KLIA Sepang promises travelers and visitors a pleasing view of greenery and waterfalls. This is the integral design of the Main Terminal Building and the Satellite Building. The entire area occupied by the airport is surrounded by 86 species of trees, while the landscaping of the airport itself will make extensive use of 40 species of shrubs indigenous to the Malaysian rain forest. Besides trees, water features such as waterfalls, streams and rivers and simulated sights and sounds of a rain forest will be included. Therefore, as soon as visitors land at the airport, they will be greeted by the evidence of the country's rich environmental heritage.

Surrounding areas:
In addition, the surrounding streets will be lined with trees, which are placed 20 meters apart from each other on high-speed roads and 15 meters on low speed roads. Creating an "instant" jungle as part of the airport landscape in just 2 years is no easy task. The organization in charge with this tall order is the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). To achieve this, FRIM has been given permission to carefully uproot and transplant a number of trees from a secondary forest area in Senawang which is marked for development. This was done to preserve Malaysia's rich environmental heritage.

Highways and other facilities:
The highway that can be used to get to KLIA is the North South Highway. It is a world class highway operated by a private company. The charges are very minimal, compared to other parts of the world which has such highway. The airport can also be accessed through the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) train services, which operates regularly to and from the airport. The charges are also minimal. The KLIA will be more viable when the Express Rail Link (ERL) begins a seamless transport link from Sepang to Kuala Lumpur.

Map:

The new international airport serves as the regional hub for air travelling. It links up many countries because of its strategic location. The KLIA is set to take over as the regional hub from Singapore's Changi Airport. KLIA has already started to move ahead when it installed state-of-the-art equipment in the airport. The new system is said to be one the most advanced in the world. Further moves taken by the government to make the KLIA a success were such as making Malaysia a new shopping destination for shoppers, as well as having promotions overseas to encourage foreign tourists. The taxes and duties for certain imported goods were also lowered to make shopping here more attractive.


2.4) Trade:

The new airport will provide many trading and business opportunities to both local and international corporations as well as small businesses. The locals will benefit from the KLIA. MAS, Malaysia's national carrier has already shifted its operation centre to KLIA. Many other small and medium business can also be found in the airport.
For more information, go to the Economic Data


2.5) Culture:

Malaysians naturally dominated the workforce with more than 10,000 nationals. Although the bulk of the remaining workers were from Indonesia and Bangladesh, there were employees from America and Canada, eight African countries, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East and many neighboring Far Eastern countries. With all the different nationals brought into Malaysia, the culture of these workers will also be "imported" as well. Certain amount of it will be here to stay, especially when it mixed with the local culture. Furthermore, the airport will be the nation's main entrance. Therefore, majority of the tourists will come to Malaysia via the KLIA. For more details, refer to Culture


2.6) Future:

Will it Achieve its Target?
According to the New Straits Times dated June 30, 1999, the KLIA is ranked third worldwide for overall customer satisfaction. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Global Airport Monitor did the report. The IATA also saw KLIA being ranked number one for overall passenger satisfaction for airports in the 15 to 25 million passengers per annum category.
The airport recently got thumbs up from the Times Magazine. It said that the use of the "Forest-in-the-airport" concept and the use of Islamic architectural details have added a note of warmth to what has become an efficient, user friendly facility.
To become the best, the KLIA has all the latest technology needed to achieve this target.
The KLIA also received the Outstanding Engineering Award 1999 by the Institution of Engineering Malaysia.
With all these awards and facilities, the KLIA is on track of becoming one of the top airports in the world in the future. And with this, it will definitely achieve its target of being the best. (taken from The New Straits Times, June 1999)
With all these awards in the bag, there is no doubt that the KLIA is fast becoming a favorite among travelers and businesses. Therefore, it is really worth investing in the airport, since Malaysia's stand and image in the region improved.

3 Phase Development Plan:

Phase 1 is scheduled was completed in 1998 and operational since June 1998. This phase calls for the construction of facilities to handle 25 million passengers and 650,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
The development of Phase 2 by 2008 will extend the current capacity to 35 million passengers a year.
Phase 3 involves further expansion with the capacity increased to 45 million by 2021.
KLIA is a long-term investment and development project that caters beyond the 3-Phase Development Plan. Its plan extends 100 years that include further expansion on the runways, mega-terminals and will have the capacity to handle up to 100 million passengers. With this long-term plan, it will include many contractors, which means continuous development in the trade, aerospace and economic sector.


Helping Others:
Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said today he would propose to the Indian government that Malaysian experience and expertise in airport construction be used in the development of airports there. He said the Indian government had plans to build several new airports in major cities there such as Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Thus, it would be good if Malaysia's experience in building the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) could be utilised under the South-South cooperation. He said Malaysia's success in building the KLIA as the most sophisticated airport in the region had attracted interest from the Indian government to use the expertise from here, as stated by its Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar. There will be a seminar to brief the Indian leaders on the matter. He said that at the proposed seminar, representatives from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad (KLIAB) and other companies associated with the construction of the KLIA could talk about their experience, expertise and services which could be offered in the construction of modern and sophisticated airports. (taken from BERNAMA, March 8, 1999)


Planning for 2020:
The KLIA is pinning its hopes on the system to enable it to pip Singapore's Changi International Airport to become "the preferred hub of the region". Located within a forested area of 10,000 hectares in Sepang, at the edge of the , the new airport is being built by 25,000 workers at a cost of RM9 billion. When completed, it will be the largest in the world in area terms. It is aiming to be a "total airport", serving as an aircraft, cargo and passenger terminal. Cargo-handling capacity, good for 1 million tonnes up to the year 2005, is geared to triple to 3 million eventually, matching the capacities at the other major Asian airports such as Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok, Tokyo's Narita, South Korea's Inchon, and Singapore's Changi. As for passengers, its initial capacity of 25 million will be increased to 60 million by the year 2020.

Y2K Ready:
The KLIA will deal with the Y2K problem, including implementing a back-up manual system, based on recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The organization is currently conducting an audit on the preparation by airports throughout the world. Although the airport (KLIA) will be Y2K ready, some foreign airlines might not be. Therefore, the ICAO will be doing a strict audit throughout the world and they will make the recommendations. The back-up manual system is necessary in case the computerized system breaks down as a result of the millennium bug.

3. Related Cases

4. Draft Author: Foo Kim Leong (Michael), July, 1999

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II. Legal Clusters

5. Discourse and Status:

6. Forum and Scope:

7. Decision Breadth:

8. Legal Standing:

III. Geographic Clusters

9. Geographic Locations

a. Geographic Domain: Asia

b. Geographic Site: East Asia

c. Geographic Impact: Malaysia

10. Sub-National Factors:

11. Type of Habitat:

IV. Trade Clusters

12. Type of Measure:

13. Direct v. Indirect Impacts:

14. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental Impact

a. Directly Related to Product: No

b. Indirectly Related to Product: Yes

c. Not Related to Product: No

d. Related to Process: Yes

15. Trade Product Identification:

16. Economic Data

MASkargo:
MASkargo, which is one of MAS's subsidiaries, acts as both a freighter operator and a terminal operator at major international airports in Malaysia. For the moment, MASkargo operates a fleet of five full freighter aircraft, which has a total capacity of 206 tons. The passenger fleet of more than 100 complements freighter operations aircraft. For the 1995-1996 financial year, MASkargo achieved a record growth of 44.6% for cargo and mail. With the new KLIA, the growth is expected again. Total cargo throughput at KLIA jumped 21% in 1995 to 286,490 tons compared with 226,977 tons in 1994. Therefore, we can conclude that the new KLIA is indeed important to local freighter operators. With the management's 3-phase development plan, there could be more trading between Malaysia and other countries in the world. The KLIA will also serve as a regional hub for air travel.

One of the biggest projects in the world:
The building of the KLIA is Malaysia's most ambitious and one of the biggest construction projects in the world. And it boasts some impressive statistics. The building of the new airport has involved 450 project teams, over 26 design contracts and more than 80 construction contracts. There are 90 buildings other than the main terminal, a total of 1,114,800 sq. meters landside paved area and a total of 2,879,900 sq. meters airside paved area. There were even specially designated on-site areas for contractors to manufacture the vast quantities of building materials required such as concrete. The building of KLIA involved many giant construction corporations. The giants include Taisei, Kajima, Shimizu and Hazama (Japanese) and locally-based Pernas Precision Engineering & Construction. Other big agreements were won by giants such as Mitsui Group, Malaysian Resources Corporation, Mudajaya Construction and AEG Transportation Systems International. With all these big corporations involved, we can see the size of the project and investment as huge. (extracted from The Shipping Times, March 27, 1995)

New Technology:
Since the building of the KLIA is a massive project, new technologies are needed in order to make it a success. Therefore, we can expect the new technologies be transferred to Malaysia. And as a result from this technology transfer, the Malaysian construction industry stands to enjoy the new advancements.

Tourism:
One of the ways to enter a country is through air. And with the technological advancements, air travel became the most preferred form of transportation between countries. KLIA serves this purpose very well because it is so well equipped with state-of-the-art technologies. And since KLIA is set to become the regional hub in this region, there is no doubt the number of tourists coming into Malaysia will increase. Furthermore, the Malaysian government has been doing lots of promotions both locally and overseas to "sell" Malaysia. The rich cultural heritage, unspoiled natural flora and fauna, shopping destinations, beautiful beaches and highlands, etc, will attract more tourists to Malaysia. And with this, Malaysia will not only will known to the world, but also helps the country to higher revenue from the tourism industry.

Shopping:
Malaysia is the foremost shopping destination in this region and the best starting point is our airport. Malaysia Airport Berhad has set their sights on making Malaysia the premier duty free shopping paradise in the Asia-Pacific region. Its duty free shopping complex will house the largest stock of duty free items in the country. The merchandise available range from local handcrafts and imported fragrances to pewterware and the most up-to-date electronic equipment. There are many other merchandizes for visitors. These merchandizes are updated regularly by the duty-free retail shop operators. Shoppers have access to the very latest styles and trends and the prices are very highly competitive.

Foreign Investment:
With the new regional hub in KLIA, it is now easier for investors to come in and out of the country. Therefore, there will be more foreign investments moving into the country. Big multinational corporations such as Intel (USA), Ericsson (Sweden), Sony, Honda (Japan) and many others have already invested in Malaysia. And very soon, other companies will have confidence in Malaysia and its capability to host foreign investors.

Other Facilities within KLIA:
1) Business Centres
2) Banks and Forex
3) CIP Lounges
4) Facilities for the Disabled
5) Fitness Centre
6) Hotel
7) Health / Medical Services
8) Information Kiosks
9) Nursery

17. Impact of Trade Restriction:

18. Industry Sector:

19. Exporters and Importers:

V. Environment Clusters

20. Environmental Problem Type:

21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species

Name: N/A

Type: N/A

Diversity: N/A

22. Resource Impact and Effect:

23. Urgency and Lifetime:

24. Substitutes:

VI. Other Factors

25. Culture:

26. Trans-Boundary Issues:

27. Rights:

28. Relevant Literature: