Welcome to the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA)

Visit by Dr Karl Laubstein, President Emeritus, World Maritime University

30 April 2010

Dr Karl Laubstein visited MIMA on 30 April, 2010. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Maritime University (WMU), Malmo for 13 years before his retirement. Before joining WMU, he was the Director General of the Canadian Department of Fisheries & Oceans. He is currently a member of the academic advisory council of the Malaysian Maritime Academy (ALAM) in Malacca.

Dr Laubstein (left) with the Director General of MIMA, Dr Pola Singh

Visit by Institute of World Economics and Politics Vietnam and Ministry of Science and Technology Vietnam

28 April 2010

A delegation from Hanoi-based Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) and Ministry of Science and Technology Vietnam visited MIMA on 28 April 2010. The delegation was headed by Mr. Chu Duc Dung, Deputy Director General, IWEP.

The delegates headed by Dr. Chu Duc Dung (third from left) posing for a photo with Dr. Pola Singh, Director General MIMA to his right and Nazery Khalid, Senior Fellow MIMA on the far left.

Expert Group Workshop on Dive Tourism in Malaysia

"High Yield or High Impact?"

26 & 27 April 2010, Kuala Lumpur

Dive tourism is recognised by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) as one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism trade. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) estimated that 600,000 new divers are certified yearly, representing an annual growth of 6%. The Ministry of Tourism Malaysia identifies dive tourism as one of the high yield components of marine tourism and is aggressively promoting tourism icons such as Sipadan as a world-class scuba diving destination. Despite that, dive tourism is relatively unregulated in Malaysia and there are currently no specific policies to guide the growth of this tourism sub-sector in a sustainable manner.

With regards to that, a two-year collaborative study on the impacts of dive tourism on the local community was carried out by the Centre for Islands and Coastal Tourism (CENTICA); University of Kent, United Kingdom; and the Tourism Planning Research Group (TPRG), Universiti Teknologi MALAYSIA (UTM). This study was sponsored by the British Council under the Prime Minister's Initiative programme (PMI 2). As part of this, a two-day workshop entitled, Expert Group Workshop on Dive Tourism in Malaysia: High Yield or High Impact, which focused on the social and economic impacts of international scuba diving tourism in Malaysia, was conducted by the University of Kent, United Kingdom in collaboration with UTM and University of Malaya at the UTM's International Campus, Kuala Lumpur.

Relevant stakeholders from as far as Semporna in Sabah participated in the programme. These stakeholders comprised mainly representatives from the governmental agencies, dive operators, dive associations, academicians, as well as non-governmental organisations. Two of the MIMA researchers, Cheryl Rita Kaur and Joanna Tang, also participated in this workshop.

expert group meeting