Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 50 - January 2014 | Page 41

Chief Minister: Sabah Could Be the Next Dubai Kimanis Power Plant on Track He said that the strategic location of Sabah within the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) is also a factor spurring investment and development growth in the State. The vision of making Sabah the next “Dubai” is achievable through the continued close partnership between the State Government and the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said it is important for Sabah to evolve from relying on the export of commodities to sustain itself and turn to downstream activities to increase the production of higher value added products. He said the trade fair plays an important role towards achieving this vision and is the physical manifestation of “globalisation of trade” by providing the perfect stage for the State to promote its products and services at the international level. This is besides pushing local businesses to reach beyond their borders in terms of marketing their products and services or to be exposed to various opportunities that are not available locally. “I urge you to use this opportunity to exchange ideas, knowledge and information, as well as to take up potential business prospects that you may be interested in. All of these play a part in contributing to the development of Sabah as the main destination for trading, businesses and investment,” he said. He said this in his speech delivered by Minister of Special Duties Datuk Teo Chee Kang at Hakka Hall, Tanjung Lipat. Lest it be said that the State only provides lip service to the proposed vision of Sabah being the next Dubai, he said the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) which was launched in 2008 leveraging on key areas such as agriculture, tourism and manufacturing, worked out well under the driving force of the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) which is tasked with the primary responsibility of planning, coordinating, promoting and accelerating the development of SDC. “Under the 10th Malaysia Plan, RM1.2 billion from the RM3.024 billion allocated to the State by the Federal Government has been used as of September; RM503.3 from the RM1.05 billion approved State funding has been spent; and RM1.313 billion from the RM1.541 billion funds allocated to SEDIA have been disbursed. Furthermore, the SDC has reached RM116 billion total committed investments since its launch almost six years ago,” he explained. “The theme for this year which is ‘Discover Sabah for Business, Culture & Nature’ fits its description,” he said, adding that Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia and is blessed with many wonders of nature besides being a melting pot for 37 ethnic groups. “The State Government is clear about Sabah’s potential as a thriving business and trading hub in the region, and has supported the latest effort carried out by the Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI) in promoting Sabah in the context of the manufacturing sector to turn the State into a hub for the Far East and make Sabah the next Dubai,” he said. He said Sabah has a composition of positive factors such as the availability of petroleum and gas, large oil palm plantations, sawn timber and plywood, and political stability that allows holistic development plans to be carried out besides having the qualities as one of the favourite tourist spots in the world. “As part of the venture in the implementation of SDC projects such as Palm Oil Industrial Clusters, the Sabah Agro-Industrial Precinct, Sandakan Education Hub, Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre, the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal and other projects, it is clear that the State’s economic structure is moving towards one that is knowledge-intensive and service-based,” he said. Musa said due to this, local entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to collaborate with international parties by delving into technologyrelated businesses or to gain knowledge on key areas in the field of technology that could benefit the local economy. Kimanis Power Plant Kimanis power plant, a 300-megawatt combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Papar, Sabah, is on course for commissioning by June next year, Petronas Gas Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Yusa Hassan said. He said the pre-commissioning activities at the RM1.5 billion gas-fired power plant had started and is currently in the process of completing the testing stages after the transmission lines have been commissioned. “The testing will take about five to six months before we commercialise the power plant by May or June 2014, if everything goes well,” he said. Kimanis Power Sdn Bhd, the owner and operator of Kimanis power plant, is a 60:40 joint-venture between Petronas Gas and NRG Consortium (Sabah), the business arm of Yayasan Sabah Group, respectively. Yusa said the company would commission the plant, which consists of three generating blocks with each generating 100MW of power, block by block. He said the company should be able to generate all 300MW by the end of this year, but this would depend on the transmission lines. “At the moment the transmission line is only able to cater for about 100MW. Once the 300MW transmission lines are ready, then we are ready to basically commercialise all this 300MW of power to Sabah,” he said. Yusa also said that gas pipeline from Sabah to Sarawak would be commissioned in due course. Meanwhile, he said the gas industry outlook, to some extend, was similar to the demand for oil. “We are actually fortunate that Malaysia is one of the main exporters of natural gas. The