By D’Drift Team
BINTULU, July 11: Samalaju Industrial Park is already a brand among global ferroalloy industry players.
The assurance was given by the general manager of Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd (Pertama) Yuki Nakamura, who gave the example that just in Japan, as a prestigious periodical has reported on Pertama on a weekly basis, the name “Samalaju” has become more popular than “Malaysia” to the Japanese.
“Investors know where Samalaju is nowadays. They believe that investors like us in Samalaju are producing good material,” said Nakamura, citing countries such as Korea, India, China and Brazil, apart from Japan.
It took a man of vision like Yuki Nakamura to see Samalaju’s potential.
He shared that when he first surveyed Samalaju in 2009, it was a forested area suffering from constant floods where rivers were infested with crocodiles.
“How can we build a new plant in this area? Crocodiles must be everywhere. I was so scared,” said Nakamura, sharing his first encounter with Samalaju during Infrastructure and Port Development Deputy Minister Dato Majang Renggi’s working visit to the Pertama Plant at Samajaya Industrial Park yesterday (July 10).
He said following the Sarawak government’s promises to clear the forests and build infrastructure to meet the requirements of foreign investors like Pertama, his doubts were cleared, and the decision was final to make a long-term investment in Samalaju Industrial Park.
Samalaju has also been chosen because of Malaysia’s geographical and strategic position.
“Malaysia is the centre of a corridor, from South Africa (raw material exporting country) to our end markets,” said Nakamura, explaining that 60 per cent of Pertama’s production is shipped to Japan and Korea.
Another factor leading to Pertama’s decision to set up its plant here is the availability of green energy from the Bakun and Murum hydroelectric power dams.
Renewable energy, stressed Nakamura, is very attractive to investors like Pertama, aside from the incentives provided by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
“Personally, I believe Sarawak is a very peaceful area in terms of politics. So that is why we are very comfortable coming here,” said Nakamura. — DayakDaily
