Awang Tengah (second left) Dr Yong (right) and others seen at the project site.
SIBU (Nov 21): Sarawak Association of Marine Industries (Samin) has expressed the hope that the government will establish a specific zone for all machinery, equipment and consumable produce for the maritime industry at the Sibu Industrial Park at Sungai Bidut.
In a press statement yesterday, its president Dr Renco Yong said this would part of the effort to support shipbuilding and ship repair in Sarawak.
He revealed that Sibu Industrial Park, which would be constructed on 61 hectares of land in Sungai Bidut, is established by Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak for all kinds of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
“This industry estate will be segmented into different category of industries, and Samin is hopeful that marine manufacturing can be highlighted and emphasized in one of the segments,” he said.
He also hoped that more companies in the marine industry will join and grow the industry even further in the state.
He noted that Samin wants to add to its current strength of 105 members and encourage more companies in the upstream and downstream sectors of the marine industry to join.
Ship building and ship repair is the leading industry in the maritime sectors followed by many other supporting industries such as ship design, marine equipment manufacturing, marine supporting industry, marine consultancy, maritime education and training and maritime research, he added.
The industrial park was initially proposed by Sibu Shipyard about five or six years ago.
Dr Yong also hoped the government could provide stronger policy to help the marine industry players during these challenging times.
The government could help, he added, through financial incentives, investment tax allowances, ease of renewal of bona fide status, protection through the Cabotage Policy, institutional support and other means of policy intervention.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan inspected the project site yesterday.