KUANTAN: The expansion of Kuantan Port marks
another milestone in the development and transformation of the East
Coast Economic Region (ECER), Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
The Prime Minister added that the RM4bil port expansion was expected to be a “game changer” in terms of the ECER’s positioning as a key investment and trade destination and expected to generate more than RM15bil in investments when completed in 2015.
The Federal Government will invest RM1bil and spearhead the development of a new deepwater terminal while the private sector will inject RM3bil.
“With the expansion, the port’s total throughput is expected to double to 52 million tonnes of cargo from the current 26 million tonnes,” he said.
Najib said an upgraded and modernised Kuantan Port would place Malaysia as one of the top trading nations in the world.
“Kuantan Port’s comparative advantage lies in its strategic location, facing the South China Sea and right in the middle of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
“Hence, the expanded Kuantan Port is well-positioned to serve as a world-class multi-purpose port for regional trade in Asean, the Far East and the rest of Asia-Pacific,” he said when launching the port expansion at the site yesterday.
In addition, said Najib, Kuantan Port offers the shortest, quickest and most direct route between Malaysia and ports in the Far East.
He said the shipping community stood to benefit in terms of costs and reduction in shipping time, adding that the port expansion could help unlock the true value of the resource-rich ECER hinterland by attracting investors to the region.
“These in turn will fast-track the growth of the local economy to benefit the people,” added the Prime Minister.
He said direct investments at the port were estimated to be RM4.1bil with the creation of more than 1,300 jobs for the locals.
“The upgraded port will also serve as a catalyst to achieve the overall investments for ECER to RM110bil with 220,000 job vacancies by 2020,” he said.
The port expansion will also speed up the development of the nearby Malaysia-China Industrial Park, being developed by sister park China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in Guanxi, China.
Overall, the upgraded port would act as a nucleus for a larger Kuantan Port City (KPC) development.
Najib said the port city had already started to take shape on a 13,000ha site that will become a vibrant logistics and industrial hub by 2020.
“We have already embarked on the upgrading and expansion of critical infrastructure and public utilities to accelerate the development of KPC,” he said, adding that these included the KPC-Kuantan Port link road, main KPC arterial road and coastal Federal Road 3.
Najib said another critical project, the Panching water treatment plant, had been completed and handed over to the Pahang Government.
During the ceremony, Najib witnessed an exchange of share sale agreement between the Guangxi Beibu International Port Group and Road Builder (M) Holdings Bhd, a subsidiary of IJM Corporation Bhd.
(Source: The Star Online)
The Prime Minister added that the RM4bil port expansion was expected to be a “game changer” in terms of the ECER’s positioning as a key investment and trade destination and expected to generate more than RM15bil in investments when completed in 2015.
The Federal Government will invest RM1bil and spearhead the development of a new deepwater terminal while the private sector will inject RM3bil.
“With the expansion, the port’s total throughput is expected to double to 52 million tonnes of cargo from the current 26 million tonnes,” he said.
Najib said an upgraded and modernised Kuantan Port would place Malaysia as one of the top trading nations in the world.
“Kuantan Port’s comparative advantage lies in its strategic location, facing the South China Sea and right in the middle of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
“Hence, the expanded Kuantan Port is well-positioned to serve as a world-class multi-purpose port for regional trade in Asean, the Far East and the rest of Asia-Pacific,” he said when launching the port expansion at the site yesterday.
In addition, said Najib, Kuantan Port offers the shortest, quickest and most direct route between Malaysia and ports in the Far East.
He said the shipping community stood to benefit in terms of costs and reduction in shipping time, adding that the port expansion could help unlock the true value of the resource-rich ECER hinterland by attracting investors to the region.
“These in turn will fast-track the growth of the local economy to benefit the people,” added the Prime Minister.
He said direct investments at the port were estimated to be RM4.1bil with the creation of more than 1,300 jobs for the locals.
“The upgraded port will also serve as a catalyst to achieve the overall investments for ECER to RM110bil with 220,000 job vacancies by 2020,” he said.
The port expansion will also speed up the development of the nearby Malaysia-China Industrial Park, being developed by sister park China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in Guanxi, China.
Overall, the upgraded port would act as a nucleus for a larger Kuantan Port City (KPC) development.
Najib said the port city had already started to take shape on a 13,000ha site that will become a vibrant logistics and industrial hub by 2020.
“We have already embarked on the upgrading and expansion of critical infrastructure and public utilities to accelerate the development of KPC,” he said, adding that these included the KPC-Kuantan Port link road, main KPC arterial road and coastal Federal Road 3.
Najib said another critical project, the Panching water treatment plant, had been completed and handed over to the Pahang Government.
During the ceremony, Najib witnessed an exchange of share sale agreement between the Guangxi Beibu International Port Group and Road Builder (M) Holdings Bhd, a subsidiary of IJM Corporation Bhd.
(Source: The Star Online)
No comments:
Post a Comment