Taiwan group keen to invest RM1.4bil in halal park

Saturday July 5, 2008
Taiwan group keen to invest RM1.4bil in halal park


SARIKEI: A Taiwanese group is keen to invest RM1.4bil in organic farming and food processing activities in the Tanjung Manis Halal Food Park near here.

Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp (STIDC) chairman Datuk Seri Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said the group was one of the four investors who had indicated their interest in the park, which was one of the four designated halal parks in the country.

Tanjung Manis, a new self-contained timber industry based township in the state central region, is managed by STIDC.

The other investors keen to invest in the park are Dubai World, an Arab group eyeing opportunities in port management services; the Khazanah group and a Japanese/Arab group keen to develop golf and resort facilities and high-end housing, Awang Tengah told Bernama in an interview.

“The Khazanah group is setting its sight on developing a 1,000ha site for herbal and fruit plantations,” he said.

Elaborating on the Taiwanese group, Awang Tengah, who is also Second Planning and Resources Management Minister, said they had asked for a 2,500 ha site for their activities.


Datuk Seri Awang Tengah
“They are more into bio-tech prawn farming, eel and marine fish farming, chicken and egg production and health food production,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the Government would spend RM4.9bil to develop the 9,000ha park.

He said a bulk of the expenditure – RM4.1bil – would go to preparatory work, RM376mil for its infrastructure development while electricity and communication facilities development would cost RM268mil.

When it is ready in 2012, the park will be the biggest of the four halal parks in the country.

“The new development will transform its image from originally a timber based industrial town into a hi-tech food production area,” he said.

Awang Tengah also said a RM360mil fisheries port, a RM100mil oil palm refinery complex and a RM150mil central oil distribution terminal would be three other mega projects in the area.

He said Tanjung Manis too would also house its share of the shipbuilding industry in the state with a site of 142 ha designated for it.

He said a local company had been tasked with developing its RM50mil ship repairing and building industrial zone, which would cater mainly to ocean going ships and vessels.–Bernama