KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 – The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) is currently playing host to a delegation from Saudi Arabia led by HRH Prince Abdul Aziz bin Faisal Al Saud, who is the grandson of the current Saudi Arabian ruler, HRH King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
The delegation is currently on a five-day business visit to the country since July 12 to learn more about the development of corridors in Malaysia, as well as to identify the key projects in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) that can be pursued by Saudi investors.
It was also meant to raise awareness among Saudi businessmen on the investment opportunities that are available in Malaysia, which is better known as a key tourism destination among the Saudis.
“I am very happy to note that there are many business opportunities in ECER Malaysia that Saudi investors can participate in,” said HRH Prince Abdul Aziz.
“I would definitely recommend more Saudi businessmen to explore the investment opportunities in ECER, especially in the areas of petrochemicals, agriculture and tourism. The support that has been given by the ECERDC team has certainly made the ECER a choice destination for Saudi investments,” he added.
The visit by HRH Prince Abdul Aziz is also reciprocal to the visit made by the ECERDC investment delegation earlier in May this year, led by the National Corridor Development Adviser, YABhg. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
During the business visit to ECER, HRH Prince Abdul Aziz and a business delegation led by Mr. Abdul Qadeer AlMashoor were briefed about the potential investment opportunities in the Region such as Kertih Polymer Park (KPP), Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC), Gambang Halal Park, livestock agriculture projects and tourism projects such as the development of Cherating, Pantai Sepat and Teluk Bidara.
On Tuesday, HRH Prince Abdul Aziz and the business delegation also paid a courtesy visit to YABhg. Tun Abdullah at the latter’s office.
Chief Executive Officer of ECERDC, Dato’ Jebasingam Issace John said as a result of ECERDC ‘s investment mission to Saudi Arabia in May, Malaysia has been approved as one of the destinations for the King Abdullah Initiative for Agriculture Investment Abroad.
Under the initiative, the Saudi Arabian government has allocated 3 billion Saudi Riyal for agriculture investments outside Saudi Arabia.
“The next step for us is to conduct further discussions with potential investors for the identified projects and also to arrange for the technical teams from Saudi Arabia to conduct feasibility studies on the projects,” Dato’ Issace said.
“By the end of this year, we expect to see firm investment commitments made by several investors from Saudi Arabia. We are confident that their interest to invest in ECER would be realised soon, based on our ongoing discussions with the potential investors and the call made by HRH Prince Abdul Aziz,” he noted.
Dato’ Issace said based on ECERDC’s previous investment mission to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), the nations are keen on ECER’s agriculture cluster in order to meet their food security requirements, as well as investment opportunities in tourism, halal products, education and petrochemicals within the Region.