Awang Tengah presenting his ministry’s winding-up speech at the august House yesterday.
KUCHING: Last year Sarawak managed to attract the second highest investment in Malaysia totalling RM11.8 billion after Johor (RM31.1 billion) and ahead of Selangor (RM7.9 billion) and Melaka (RM6.8 billion).
The RM11.8 billion came from 22 approved projects mainly in petroleum and related products (LNG) at RM10.4 billion, basic metal products (RM653.9 million) and electrical and electronic products (RM590 million), revealed Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
“These investments are expected to generate about 1,900 employment opportunities in the state,” Awg Tengah said during his ministerial’s winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
Sarawak he said had a small domestic market which made trade and investment, especially foreign direct investments (FDI), instrumental to the state’s economic development.
The state government he said would continue to attract more investments, accelerate the development of Sarawak and narrow the development gap between rural and urban regions.
“FDI will not only spur the development of the state but also connect Sarawak to the rest of the world,” said Awg Tengah.
The State Industrial Coordination Committee (ICC) has approved 39 projects totalling RM325.6 million in petrochemical, transport equipment, basic metal products, food manufacturing and non-metallic mineral products able to generate 870 jobs in the state.
As of May 2016, the ICC has recommended 12 projects worth a total RM4.8 billion for approval under the Industrial Coordination Act (ICA) to generate about 4,500 jobs in the state.
“Within the same period, ICC has approved 34 projects totalling RM104.6 million mainly in non-metallic mineral product, services, chemical and chemical products, wood-based and wood products and basic metal products which can generate at least 600 jobs in the state,” he said.
On another note, the state is continuing to attract quality investments to leverage on technology and innovation such as investors from Xian LONGi Materials Corporation, China totalling RM1.066 billion in Sama Jaya High Tech Park.
LONGi’s integrated solar manufacturing facility are producing solar ingots, wafers, cells and modules.
“By the first quarter of 2017, LONGi will be in full operation for Phase 1 producing ingots and wafers and employing a 1,700 workforce, This will increase to 2,300 workforce when the project is completed by the first quarter of 2018,” he added.
Awg Tengah highlighted that global investors were selective in deciding their investment destinations and a push was needed to present Sarawak’s relative advantages.
The state will require more investment, particularly FDI, to accelerate its industrialisation agenda and the government is working closely with the Ministry of International Trade and Industries, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority to bring in investments.
“This may not be adequate as Sarawak is competing with other states and neighbouring countries for the same investments. We have to be more proactive in identifying potential investors and directly engage with them to promote Sarawak.
“Therefore, we need to intensify our promotional efforts abroad,” he said.
On the oil and gas industry, Awg Tengah said all these years Sarawak had been exporting oil and gas resources in raw form.
“While the state has derived good income from this, it remains in our best interest to have more value-added downstream activities in this sector with more local participation,” he added.
Bintulu he pointed out had a vibrant oil and gas sector and the infrastructure to become the regional hub for the petrochemical industry.
On April 3, the state government and Petronas signed the Principle Agreement on the Supply of 450 Mmscfd of natural gas for the power and non-power sectors in Sarawak,” said Tengah.
He said the state government and Petronas had also signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a joint study for Sarawak Petrochemical Master Plan – a step for the state to play a bigger role in developing downstream petrochemical industries.
Petronas upstream operations in Sarawak is undergoing restructuring to meet its business requirements.
“Petronas Carigali Sarawak operations have been split into two entities: Sarawak oil operations in Miri and Sarawak gas operations in Bintulu,” he said.
The expansion of Sarawak gas operations has created 251 new positions in Bintulu and 134 new positions for Train 9 operations and another 234 new positions for Floating LNG Satu.
“We hope Petronas will seriously consider Sarawakians to lead all these new operations,” he added.
He revealed that Petronas has spent RM2.2 billion worth of contracts on 202 Sarawak companies in 2015.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) is successful as reflected in the 21 approved projects with investments totalling RM30.70 billion to generate more than 16,000 jobs.
Under Phase 2 of the Score Development Plan (2016 to 2020), the government intends to attract more downstream industries to utilise the outputs of the trigger industries as raw materials.