Malaysia’s east coast attracts $12b
The East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia has attracted a staggering 37 billion ringgit ($12 billion) in investments between 2007 and November 2012, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on December 14.
Of the committed investments, 27 per cent was in the tourism sector, 37.5 per cent in the logistics sector, 16.8 per cent in the manufacturing sector, 10.4 per cent in the property sector and 8.3 per cent in the agriculture sector, creating jobs for nearly 30,000 people.
ECER is an economic development corridor located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, covering the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the north of Mersing district of Johor.ECER is also one of the three development regions formed in Peninsular Malaysia together with the Iskandar Malaysia and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). The ECER initiative will span for 12 years starting from 2007. The master planner for ECER is Malaysia’s oil and gas giant Petronas.
To date, the government has allocated 2.6 billion ringgit to implement 80 high- impact projects and programmes in ECER under the Ninth and 10th Malaysia Plans, the prime minister said.
He added that the projects comprise infrastructure projects such as construction and upgrading of roads and water treatment plants in the region, spanning Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Mersing district in Johor.
To further spur economic growth in the zone, the Kuantan Port expansion project is moving ahead as planned and the port will be turned into a deepwater port by 2015, capable of handling bigger and most modern ships up to 200,000 deadweight tonnes.
Najib also announced the rebranding of the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster in Kuantan to Kuantan Integrated Biopark in line with the East Coast Economic Region Development Council’s objective to promote biotechnology-related activities based on oil palm biomass in the park.
To stimulate the growth of knowledge-based economy and information communications technology industry in ECER and to further develop the local small and medium enterprises, the council will also embark on the development plan for the Gambang Technology Park next year.
Among the key project in the ECER is the 685-ha Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) located within the vicinity of the Kuantan Port City. MCKIP is the first bilateral project in Malaysia to be accorded national-level status and it is expected to attract 7.5 billion ringgit investments from local and international investors and create 5,500 employment opportunities by 2020. Targeted industries include plastics and metal equipment, automotive components, fibre cement board and stainless steel products.
[caption id="attachment_5896" align="alignleft" width="208"] East Coast Economic Region in Malaysia (click to enlarge)[/caption] The East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia has attracted a staggering 37 billion ringgit ($12 billion) in investments between 2007 and November 2012, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on December 14. Of the committed investments, 27 per cent was in the tourism sector, 37.5 per cent in the logistics sector, 16.8 per cent in the manufacturing sector, 10.4 per cent in the property sector and 8.3 per cent in the agriculture sector, creating jobs for nearly 30,000 people. ECER is an economic development corridor...
The East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia has attracted a staggering 37 billion ringgit ($12 billion) in investments between 2007 and November 2012, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on December 14.
Of the committed investments, 27 per cent was in the tourism sector, 37.5 per cent in the logistics sector, 16.8 per cent in the manufacturing sector, 10.4 per cent in the property sector and 8.3 per cent in the agriculture sector, creating jobs for nearly 30,000 people.
ECER is an economic development corridor located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, covering the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the north of Mersing district of Johor.ECER is also one of the three development regions formed in Peninsular Malaysia together with the Iskandar Malaysia and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). The ECER initiative will span for 12 years starting from 2007. The master planner for ECER is Malaysia’s oil and gas giant Petronas.
To date, the government has allocated 2.6 billion ringgit to implement 80 high- impact projects and programmes in ECER under the Ninth and 10th Malaysia Plans, the prime minister said.
He added that the projects comprise infrastructure projects such as construction and upgrading of roads and water treatment plants in the region, spanning Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Mersing district in Johor.
To further spur economic growth in the zone, the Kuantan Port expansion project is moving ahead as planned and the port will be turned into a deepwater port by 2015, capable of handling bigger and most modern ships up to 200,000 deadweight tonnes.
Najib also announced the rebranding of the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster in Kuantan to Kuantan Integrated Biopark in line with the East Coast Economic Region Development Council’s objective to promote biotechnology-related activities based on oil palm biomass in the park.
To stimulate the growth of knowledge-based economy and information communications technology industry in ECER and to further develop the local small and medium enterprises, the council will also embark on the development plan for the Gambang Technology Park next year.
Among the key project in the ECER is the 685-ha Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) located within the vicinity of the Kuantan Port City. MCKIP is the first bilateral project in Malaysia to be accorded national-level status and it is expected to attract 7.5 billion ringgit investments from local and international investors and create 5,500 employment opportunities by 2020. Targeted industries include plastics and metal equipment, automotive components, fibre cement board and stainless steel products.
So how many ports will be in Malaysia? One in the east, two in the south west and more planned? Singapore from when I last checked only had one and it competes with the best in the world. This was in fact said to me from the CEO of one of the port companies in Malaysia.