Kuching's existing facilities are limited and unlikely to be able to handle the rapid expansion of its industrial and manufacturing sectors, which are flourishing as a result of foreign investment.
It is understood that the proponent of one major project - a steel manufacturing plant - has made the construction of a deep-sea port close to Kuching a condition of its contract.
"The Sarawak government is keen to see that and other mega-projects take off," according to one reliable source. The proposed site is about 16 kilometres from the new US$88-million Senari Container Port at Tanjong Po on the estuary of the Sarawak River. It will be Sarawak's second deep-sea port after Bintulu Port in central Sarawak.
"The Kuching Port Authority (KPA) has already submitted the list of names of the consultants for the project," the source said. "As soon as the consultant has been chosen a detailed feasibility study will follow. This may take one to two years. Planning and design will follow next. We could be looking at construction to start within the next five years."
Presently, there are three main state ports - Kuching, Sibu and Miri - and one federal port, Bintulu. But most others are inland and, as river ports, are limited. Shippers, attracted by improved road links that connect many rural towns to major centres, are by-passing the facilities.
Sarawak authorities are understood to be seriously reviewing the future role of these river ports, some may have run their course.
"Even though Senari Container Port has yet to become operational, we are thinking long term," a port official said, adding that the Tanjong Po facility would cater to vessels of 2,000-3,000 TEUs in capacity.
The project's vetting comes at a time when Indonesian Kalimantan, Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and the southern Philippines are actively discussing trade promotion and investment within the context of the BIMP-EAGA grouping, which represents a market of 40 million consumers.
Sarawak has good potential as a regional shipping hub given its strategic geographical placement on the northern coast of Borneo across from Singapore.
"This can be realised by developing a deep-sea port to establish global trade links, with the possibility of directly competing with Singapore," the source said.