Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA)

Introduction of MIMA's Research Projects in 2010

The thrust of MIMA's research in 2010 is centred around the theme of climate change, a growing concern that demands all sectors to think of ways to mitigate the effects of global warming.  The increasingly worrying prospect of a world reeling under the adverse impacts of climate change calls for the maritime sector to play an active role to reduce its carbon footprint.  In light of the Government's commitment at the COP 15 summit in Copenhagen in December 2009 to reduce the nation's carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 from 2005 levels,

MIMA is keen to play a part to contribute towards meeting this goal through policy research.  In line with this, MIMA will carry out several climate change-related research projects in 2010 along the premise of 'greening' Malaysia's maritime sector.  Although this presents a greenfield territory for our researchers, we are confident that the findings of these projects will yield valuable policy options and recommendations that can be useful to our stakeholders and to help Malaysia achieve its carbon emission reduction goal.

In addition to research projects on climate change, research in other thematic areas and in so-called flagship programmes will also be pursued.  Also, various research projects based on integrated disciplines will also be carried out.  Such projects will involve researchers from different centres at MIMA and will combine their expertise in various areas such as economics, law, security and environment.  In doing so, no effort will be spared to produce work of the highest quality that will maximise the impact of MIMA's research to help meet Malaysia's maritime interests and expand the frontier of maritime literature.  This is in line with the aspiration of creating MIMA as a brand name that is synonymous with quality and productivity in maritime policy research.

MIMA's research projects for 2010 are categorised under four main programmes, namely (1) National Ocean Policy, (2) Malaysia's Maritime Domain's Security, (3) Developing a Vision for the Straits of Malacca, and (4) National Maritime Report Card.  Another programme, Climate Change and Greening of the Maritime Sector, has been added to in response to the growing attention on climate change.

Under the research programmes, research projects will be carried out in key areas, namely economics, environment, security and law, and also those involving collaborations across the four research centres at MIMA.  In conceptualising the proposals, the researchers were partly guided by the MIMA Research Agenda 2008-2013 which was developed with the assistance of external consultants and a thorough review by our stakeholders to ensure the relevance of the projects.

In addition to research projects, several activities will be carried out throughout the year.  These include a workshop on the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf and Considerations of Submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and a Training Course on Law of the Sea.   MIMA will also commemorate the World Ocean Day with a series of activities aimed at increasing public awareness of the role of the oceans and the importance to protect the marine environment.  MIMA will also conduct an international training course on 'Strategic Management of the Maritime Sector' for officials from four ASEAN countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.  The course is part of the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) under the Initiative on ASEAN Integration Project which aims to promote capacity building in these countries to narrow the gap between them and other ASEAN countries.  This will open up a new avenue for MIMA in its quest to disseminate information.

In all, there will be 28 research projects and 14 conferences, seminars, roundtables and stakeholders' meetings planned for 2010, compared to 20 research projects and 15 events organized in 2009.

With the recruitment of 13 new researchers in MIMA between October 2009 and January 2010, the institute is well-positioned to undertake more research projects and more ambitious studies.  The newly assembled research team at MIMA consists of highly qualified, motivated and enthusiastic individuals from various backgrounds.  They provide the institute with a wide array of options to venture into various maritime research areas.