11/13/2012 — Bernama
MELBOURNE, Nov 13 (Bernama) – The industrial parks being established in Kuantan and Qinzhou are expected to bring the relationship between Malaysia and China to greater heights, the fourth World Chinese
Economic Forum here was told on Tuesday.
“Both the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCIP) and its sister park, Qinzhou Industrial Park (QIP), signify a key milestone in the strong economic and trade ties between the two countries,” East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) Chief Executive Datuk Jebasingam Issace John said.
He said the parks were developed under the principle of “government guided, private sector driven”, a new model that promotes investment cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.
Jebasingam said the Kuantan park will provide new business opportunities for trade and investment for investors from China, Asean and other countries including Australia.
He said MCKIP faces the South China Sea, making it the ideal gateway to the vast Asia Pacific region with a combined population of about four billion and GDP of US$17 trillion.
“The industrial park is well served by the Kuantan Port, which is being transformed into a deepwater port 18-metre draught, able to cater to ships of up to 200,000 DWT,” Jebasingam said.
He pointed out that shipping time between Kuantan and Qinzhou is only three days, with air travel about three hours.
Industries targeted for establishment in the Kuantan park include manufacturing of equipment for plastics and metals, automotive components, fibre cement boards, stainless steel products, food processing, carbon fibre, electronic products and information and communications technology.
“Preliminary groundwork for MCKIP began in September and we have received many inquiries from large corporations and international players,” he said, adding special incentive packages are being formulated for investors.