The Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), located on a 606-hectare site in Gebeng near Kuantan, will bring enormous benefits to the country.

To be developed jointly under the principles of ‘government guided, private sector driven', MCKIP targets investments in high-end industries by investors from Malaysia, China and international players from Asean and the rest of the world.

MCKIP is expected to bring the Malaysia-China relations to greater heights, as it will play a synergistic role with its sister park in Qinzhou, namely the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, that will help enhance bilateral trade between both countries.

najib razak visits 5 places of worship in brickfields Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( left ) together with Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of the People's Republic of China, Jia Qinglin, today jointly launched the MCKIP, the first industrial park in Malaysia to be accorded national status.

"This is the first industrial park in Malaysia to be accorded national status, meaning it will be driven by the private sector but guided by government.

"The park has already attracted investment commitments worth RM10.5 billion, creating 8,500 jobs and a further RM2.5 billion will be invested by the master developer who will play a key role in constructing the park's major infrastructure," he said in his speech at the launch of MCKIP here today.

The RM10.5 billion investment commitments are in addition to the RM38 billion investment already attracted by East Coast Economic Region (Ecer) since 2007 until January 2013, which have created 30,000 job opportunities for the residents in the region.

The investment commitments in MCKIP consists of RM5 billion by Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group for three projects, another RM3 billion by Guangxi Beibu Gulf International and IJM Corp Bhd in the Kuantan Port expansion project, and RM2.5 billion by the Master Development of MCKIP, which is a joint venture between Malaysian and Chinese consortiums.

Excellent location

Located in the East Coast Economic Region of Malaysia's Special Economic Zone (Ecer Sez), MCKIP is well-positioned to become a hub of high-end, export-oriented industries that would leverage its proximity to Kuantan Port, which is only five kilometres away.

The Kuantan Port expansion will involve the construction of a new deep water terminal that will allow vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnes to berth.

When completed in 2015, Kuantan Port will have the capacity to handle 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and 14 million tonnes of bulk cargo per annum, which will enhance the port's competitiveness as a regional shipping destination and trans-shipment hub.

"The expansion will include a new deep water terminal, to make the port competitive as a major shipping destination," said the prime minister.

To attract strategic emerging industries to the park, the Ecer Development Council is collaborating with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Pahang State Government to promote MCKIP to potential investors not only from China and Malaysia, but also from Asean and beyond.

NONE Meanwhile, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob  ( right ) said the MCKIP project is seen to bring a lot of direct benefits to the state and residents in Pahang.

"The economic spin-off effects and multiplier effects as well as value-added effects are a lot...It creates a lot of job opportunities for all levels, professional and non-professional, skilled and semi-skilled.

"It stimulates rapid growth of services based businesses. It provides added value to the Gebeng industrial estate to become an important industrial hub in the country," he said.

The industries targeted for MCKIP are plastics and metal equipment manufacturing, automotive parts, electronics components and information and communications technology.

- Bernama