KUALA LUMPUR: High-tech, electrical and electronic (E&E) and advanced materials companies are being urged to seize investment opportunities in Sarawak.
Sarawak Industrial and Entrepreneur Development Ministry Permanent Secretary Datuk Liaw Soon Eng said the state offered various incentives to investors to set up manufacturing facilities, such as pioneer status, lower electricity tariffs, investment tax allowances, flexible terms of payment for industrial land and rebates if a project was completed within the specified period.
“As one of the top three investment destinations in Malaysia, Sarawak offers many advantages to manufacturing companies,” he added.
Liaw encouraged more companies to set up their businesses at the Sama Jaya High-Tech park, Sarawak’s premier high-tech industrial zone and home to semi-conductor and solar panel manufacturing companies from Japan, the United States, Europe and China.
“We want high-tech investments which benefit the state. The other sector we are eyeing is the Internet of Things (IoT), as we plan to establish a data centre here (in Sama Jaya).
“Sama Jaya is equipped with good infrastructure and facilities, as well as supporting services. We (the state) also offer very competitive rates for power, water and land for businesses,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (MIDA) Invest Series: Unfolding States’ Business Potential seminar here today.
He said Sama Jaya Park had grown to include several major multinational corporations such as X-FAB Sarawak Sdn Bhd (semiconductor), LONGi (Kuching) Sdn Bhd (solar ingots, wafers, cells and modules) and South Korea’s Iljin Materials Co Ltd, a copper foil producer for smart phones and electric vehicles.
As of September 2018, Sarawak had attracted RM137.3 billion in investments from 1,120 approved manufacturing projects and since MIDA’s establishment in 1967.
Zabidi Mahbar, who is MIDA’s strategic planning and development senior executive director, said these projects had created over 175,000 job opportunities, mainly in the natural gas, chemical, basic metal products and E&E sectors. – Bernama
