CM says Bintulu’s natural resources attract foreign investors, wants more downstream manufacturing activities
(From left) Azman, Morshidi, Asfia, Awang Tengah, Adenan, Park and others during the ground breaking ceremony for Huchems Malaysia project in Bintulu
BINTULU: The abundance of natural resources in Bintulu gives the area a huge potential to be the petro-chemical hub in the country, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation plant in Tanjung Kidurong yesterday, Adenan said the setting up of the plant to produce ammonia, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate here reflected the confidence of foreign investors in the state.
He added that more petrochemical companies would be invited to set up their plants in the state.
“To do this, we will be intensely involved in developing the high value downstream products of oil and gas industries such as specialised and fine chemicals.
“We will consider all feasible proposals to establish petrochemical industries in the state and will facilitate them accordingly.”
Adenan added that the state government was not contented with the development of oil and gas industry in the state.
“The reason being, our oil and gas products are still commodity based meant for exports.
“For example – the production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), ammonia and urea utilising natural gas as the feedstock for the industry. The irony is that the value-added activities are done abroad utilising our natural gas as raw materials in their petrochemical industries,” he said.
By having a petrochemical hub here, he said the oil and gas sector’s contribution to the state’s economy can be maximised.
He pointed out that the state has the competitive edge in the development of high value-added petrochemical industry, especially with the availability of natural gas as feedstock.
“To show our strong support, we will endeavour to make available the supply of natural gas needed by Huchems to ensure the successful operation of the proposed Huchems Chemical Complex in Kidurong.
“For this reason, I have written a letter and spoken personally to the Prime Minister on this matter and he has agreed for Petronas to supply natural gas to Huchems according to the Principle Agreement that we had signed with Huchems on December 1, 2014,” he said.
Thus, Adenan said he wants Petronas to conclude the Master Agreement with the state government on the supply of natural gas for both power and non-power sectors and to expedite the signing of the Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) with Huchems because Huchems is expected to commence construction of its plant by next month.
The chief minister said the proposed investment by Huchems in the high value-added petrochemical industry will
create both business and employment opportunities in the state.
In addition, the private sector in the state will also have the opportunity to participate in whatever business spin-offs created by Huchems, he said further.
“The young and talented Sarawakians will have the opportunities to work in the proposed manufacturing plant and other related industries supporting the plant.
“For this purpose, the state government is also emphasising on technical and vocational education to ensure that there are enough skilled workers especially technicians to meet the workforce requirement of Huchems,” he added.
He pointed out that oil and gas had contributed significantly to the state’s economy.
In 2014 the sector contributed 44 per cent and in terms of export receipts in that year, 76 per cent was contributed by the oil and gas sector. Of this 76 per cent, LNG contributed 55 per cent, and 21 per cent was from crude petroleum and petroleum products.
In order to expand the state’s economy further, he wanted to see more added value or deepening economic activities in all sectors of the economy through industrialisation by shifting to higher value added activities, undertaking productivity
driven growth initiative and application of higher levels of technology.
To realise this objective, he said the state government will be focusing on the downstream development of one of the key economic sectors of the state’s economy, which is the oil and gas sector.
“In fact oil and gas has been identified as one of the 10 priority industries in Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE). This is important because Sarawak contributes 26 per cent of the national petroleum production and 56 per cent of the natural gas production,” said Adenan.
Others present during the event were Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment and Minister of Industrial Development and Minister of Public Utilities Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, State Legislative Assembly speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar, state secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, Malaysian Investment Development Authority chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud, Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Malaysia Cho Byung Jae, member of National Assembly Republic of Korea Lee Jin Bok, Tae Kwang and Huchems chairman Park Yeon Cha and Huchems chief executive officer Choi Gyu Sung.