KUANTAN, FEB 13 – Pahang has successfully secured RM56.4 billion in domestic and foreign investments, creating 52,169 job opportunities for the Rakyat as at December 2016. The strong performance is on the back of the state’s robust growth in the manufacturing sector which contributes 51.0 per cent to its total investment.
The industrial parks in Pahang, including the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), Gambang Halal Park, Pekan Automotive Park (PAP) and Kuantan Integrated Biopark, have been the key drivers of the state’s growth momentum. The four industrial parks have thus far successfully attracted RM19.54 billion worth of private investments in total, which will create 21,460 job opportunities. Other key contributors to Pahang’s growth include tourism as well as the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors, which contribute 26.3 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively.
“Pahang has grown to be one of the top destinations for investors especially in the manufacturing sector following the Government’s investment into developing key strategic and high-impact projects over the years. The investment into Pahang is expected to be given a boost with the completion of Kuantan Port’s expansion and ongoing progress in the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park this year. These will ultimately result in spillover benefits for the local community through greater job and entrepreneurial opportunities,” said Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John, Chief Executive Officer of the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) after the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Implementation and Coordination (ICC) Pahang meeting today.
The ICC meeting was chaired by Pahang Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Diraja Haji Adnan bin Haji Yaakob.
Amongst the industrial park in Pahang, MCKIP has grown to become an important economic driver, attracting RM18.1 billion in domestic and foreign investments. In fact, the construction works and economic activities at MCKIP are in full swing. For example, Alliance Steel (M) Sdn. Bhd., the industrial park’s first and current largest investor, is on track to commencing operations by the end of this year and will create 3,500 employment opportunities for the Rakyat.
On the Bumiputera investment front, the state received and approved 37 projects worth RM6.95 billion from Bumiputera companies. These projects, which will help to generate 4,071 potential jobs for the rakyat, received incentives from ECERDC and / or TERAJU@ECER. Of this total, 15 Bumiputera projects valued at RM358.4 million, have benefited from the Dana Mudahcara TERAJU@ECER facilitation funds amounting to RM44.4 million. Most of these investments are for Bumiputera companies involved in construction and services industries.
Meanwhile, a number of high-impact infrastructure projects are in progress to further spur investment from domestic and foreign investors. For instance, Kuantan Port, which is currently undergoing expansion to become a deep water port, is set to offer investors in MCKIP one of the fastest route to major ports in China and the Asia Pacific markets.
Once completed, the new deep water terminal at Kuantan Port, with a maximum draft of 18 metres, will enable the Port to accommodate the largest vessels of up to 200,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) in size. It will also be able to handle 52 million freight weight tonnes of bulk and container cargo, doubling its current capacity and strengthening Kuantan Port’s position as the “Gateway to Asia Pacific”.
The East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) is another significant game-changer in the region that will spur a new wave of development in the ECER. The 600km ECRL will directly link key economic and industrial areas within the ECER, including Kuantan and Bentong in Pahang, as well as Kuantan Port and Port Klang in the West Coast.
The ECRL will aid in the movement of goods and people between ECER and Port Klang in Peninsular Malaysia. With cost of freight transportation expected to be reduced, investors in Pahang will stand to benefit through lower production cost. The projects will also further create jobs and open up new business opportunities for the local population. The towns which stand to benefit from this project are Bentong, Mentakab, Maran, Gambang, Kuantan Sentral, Kuantan Port and Cherating.
In addition, the Ganchong Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Pekan is also on track for completion by March 2017. Once ready, the WTP would be able to deliver some 80 million litres per day of clean treated water for industrial, commercial and domestic use in Peramu, Pahang Tua and Kuala Pahang, and this would inevitably help to generate greater prospects on new industrial activities within the area and improve the livelihood among the locals.
Meanwhile, the agribusiness cluster has also shown great potential in accelerating Pahang’s economic growth. In fact, a new milk processing plant is expected to be ready this year at the Muadzam Shah Cattle Research and Innovation Centre (MSCRIC).
This would enable the anchor company, Holstein Milk Company, to boost its milk production in Pahang and reinforce the centre as Malaysia’s largest dairy producer. Holstein’s dairy products, sold under the Farm Fresh brand, currently command more than 39 per cent of the local market share in the Fresh Milk segment.
Other developments in Pahang that are due for completion this year is the Rompin Integrated Pineapple Plantation (RIPP)’s whole cultivation area of 1,200 acres involving nurseries, plantations, as well as a collection, processing and packaging centre.
In 2020, the RIPP is expected to produce 30,000 metric tonnes of fresh pineapple annually which in turn will create more jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for the Rakyat throughout the entire value chain.
Meanwhile, the Herbal Integrated Cluster Development (HICD) in Pahang which spans some 327 acres has also almost completed Phase 1 of the project. Out-growers and satellite farmers stand to benefit from the anchor company business model as the company will enter into buy-back arrangements with the farmers, guaranteeing sustainable returns.
Given ECERDC’s equal emphasis on the human capital development front, more than 35,000 Rakyat from Pahang have benefitted from ECERDC’s human capital development programmes such as empower ECER, entrepreneur ECER, ECER Talent Enhancement Programme, Agropolitan, Suri@Home and TeraS.
In 2016 alone, as many as 971 adult participants have become entrepreneurs through various programmes initiated under ECERDC and this in turn has created about 2,448 job opportunities for the local communities. The B40 income group makes up about 93% of the total participants as this is part of the strategy to improve the target group’s income and livelihood by providing them with upskilling or entrepreneurial opportunities.
“Moving forward in 2017, ECERDC hopes to reach out to 1,350 budding entrepreneurs via the entrepreneur ECER programme this year. We will also be working with Universiti Teknologi MARA to promote the local batik industry and we are looking into grooming some 20 batik entrepreneurs to promote the Malaysian textile industry to cater to international markets,” concludes Issace.