By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Nov 13: As of October this year, the State Industry Coordination Committee (ICC) has approved 32 investment projects totalling RM8.8 billion and created 1,740 jobs in the state, revealed Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
He added that out of these, 11 were ICA (Industrial Coordination Act 1975) projects totalling RM8.6 billion, creating 1,230 employment opportunities.
“These investments include the methanol project worth RM5.7 billion, copperfoil project worth RM2.2 billion and metallic silicone project worth RM0.59 billion. Three projects with total investment of RM923.8 million are still under consideration, while the RM17 billion steel project is under detailed EIA evaluation,” Awang Tengah said in his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly Sitting here today.
He also disclosed that for the same period, the State ICC had also approved 21 ICC projects totalling RM167.7 million, mainly in services, wood, wood and wood-based products, food manufacturing and HDPE products.
“These investments are expected to create about 510 employment opportunities. Another five projects worth RM16.2 million are still under consideration,” he said.
As for the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Industrial Development, said since its inception in 2008, Score had been a major attraction for foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI).
“To date, a total investment of RM39.34 billion has been approved in Score. In Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP) alone, RM27.83 billion worth of investments have been approved.
“Currently, seven companies are in operation and creating 6,900 employment opportunities, where 62 per cent (4,250) of the workforce is local. The companies at SIP have generated RM484 million monthly in terms of economic spin-off to the local economy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Awang Tengah said construction of IIjin Materials Malaysia Sdn Bhd at Samajaya High Tech Park, which started in January this year, was on schedule for completion next month.
He added that IIjin planned to commence Phase II of its project soon to cater to the strong market demand for its products.
“Recruitment has already commenced, and IIjin expects to hire 144 personnel by the end of this year. Twenty-four employees have already been sent to South Korea for training,” he said.
He said besides IIjin, the LONGi Group is also planning to expand its facilities at Sama Jaya, investing an additional RM820 million for monocrystalline silicon cell production. This expansion will create 800 more jobs in Sama Jaya.
“In total, Sama Jaya has a current workforce of 11,600, where 98 per cent are locals. In 2017 alone, Sama Jaya generated RM380 million in wages and RM3.2 billion in export value,” he said. — DayakDaily
