Sarawak SCORE attracts bulk of investments in the state
17 Nov 2014
Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) Deputy Chief Executive Officer II, Datuk N. Rajendran said this during his presentation on the “Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy: Powering New Opportunities for Investment” at the Sarawak Business Summit last week.
Of the total approved investments in Sarawak for January to July 2014, some RM7.45 billion or 96% were foreign investments, he said, adding that the state could be seeing an additional RM6.7 billion in investment this year.
For the first seven months of the year, Malaysia’s manufacturing sector attracted some RM53.2 billion in investments and Sarawak recorded the second highest level of approved investments among all the states in the country.
Noting that the bulk of the investments in SCORE were in the aluminium, steel and oil and gas sectors, Rajendran said MIDA is trying to create cluster industries in the Samalaju Industrial Park, where the energy-related industries could outsource services like logistics and maintenance to local companies.
Sarawak State Planning Unit Director Datuk Ismawi Ismuni said SCORE has secured 19 approved projects with a total estimated investment of RM30.4 billion, mainly in energy-intensive operations such as aluminium and manganese smelters in Bintulu’s Samalaju Industrial Park, one of SCORE’s growth areas. In addition, Sarawak has also attracted investments in its halal hub in Tanjung Manis in the Mukah Division.
Meanwhile, Press Metal Bhd’s aluminium smelting plant, Tokuyama’s polycrystalline silicon plant and OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd’s ferro-alloy smelting plant have commenced production while two manganese plants owned by Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd and Sakura Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd are currently under construction.
Press Metal Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Paul Koon said the group, which has an aluminium smelting plant each in Samalaju and Mukah, could outsource the maintenance service of the plants’ equipment and logistics services in due time.
Source: StarBiz 17 Nov 2014 and MIDA
