By PAULINE NG
IN KUALA LUMPUR
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MALAYSIA yesterday announced a 'high priority' plan to set up a major oil and gas and maritime industrial park on the South China Sea at Tanjung Agas in Pahang.
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Located in the royal town of Pekan, the planned 1,620 hectare park would be a one-stop support centre for the region's growing upstream and downstream oil and gas activities.
Described as a 'public- private initiative', the project seems likely to be fast-tracked, given that it has the backing of the Pahang royal family, the state's Chief Minister Adnan Yaakop and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak - all of whom were at the launch yesterday.
The Pahang State Development Board and Tanjong Agas Supply Base and Marine Services - a private company chaired by the second in line to the Pahang throne, Tengku Abdul Rahman - will develop the industrial park.
The State Development Board will take a 30 per cent equity stake.
In a speech yesterday, Pahang's ruler Sultan Ahmad Shah said that more than RM2 billion (S$838.9 million) will be spent on the park, which is expected to attract RM6 billion in foreign direct investment.
The park will be built on a cape fronting the sea, with dredging to cater to very large vessels.
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Its promoters envisage a shipyard, fabrication and dredger yards, a steel billet plant, a bulk terminal, a petroleum terminal, warehouses and factories and various residential and commercial developments.
Mr Najib, who is also Malaysia's Finance Minister and prime minister in waiting, said an estimated 30,000 jobs will be created over 10 years, including 5,000 in the first phase.
The federal government will consider helping with infrastructure development in the area. 'Of course Pekan is important to Tuanku - and to Patek (me),' said Mr Najib, who is the Member of Parliament for Pekan.
According to Tengku Abdul Rahman, national oil company Petronas and its partners have expressed interest in setting up at the park. The participation of Petronas, which has a petroleum complex at Gebeng, Pahang, is seen as critical for the success of the project.
The park was not listed as a project under the federal government's proposed East Coast Economic Region development plan - a long-term programme, spearheaded by Petronas, to uplift the poorer eastern states.
1 comment:
From my reliable sources, I came to know that this idea/proposal was first submitted to PASDEC about two, three years ago by Zee Zee Offshore Sdn Bhd. After a few round of discussions/meetings with the MD of PASDEC, both parties came to some sort of mutual agreement to form a company which will have PASDEC and Zee Zee Offshore as partners. At this point due to lack of funds, Zee Zee Offshore invited Mohd Faidzal Ahmad Mahidin and Badaruddin Masodi to outsource financial arrangement for the new company which has been registered by that time under the name of Pekan Petrobase Sdn Bhd.
After more discussions/meetings, PKNP decided that they are the ones that should get involved instead of PASDEC. And more meetings was arranged including two or three presentation to the MB. Finally MB agrees with the proposal and instructed PKNP to take the lead. Problems arises when the negotiations on the breakdown of shares was carried out. Both Faidzal and Badaruddin wanted equal shares same as the owners of Zee Zee Offshore Sdn Bhd.
.......to be continued......
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