KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — The Malaysian government is committed to making the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) a success, and this is evidenced by the Federal Government funding of about RM1.5 billionin incentives and infrastructure support for the park.

Chief Executive Officer of the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC), Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John, said Malaysia is currently developing the primary infrastructure in MCKIP which included the construction and upgrading of a direct road linkage to the Kuantan Port from MCKIP, and water, electrical and telecommunication services to support this development.

"The construction of an elevated diamond interchange at the main entrance to MCKIP and the upgrading of the Sungai Ular interchange to Kuantan Port, as well as the construction of primary access road, water supply and other supporting infrastructure in MCKIP had commenced in 2014 and are expected to be ready by February 2016.

"The Malaysian government has also approved a special incentive package for all investors in MCKIP, including 100 per cent income tax exemption for up to 15 years," he said.

Jebasingam said this at the China-Malaysia "Two Countries, Twin Parks" Investment Promotion Conference in Nanning, China today.

In a statement here, Jebasingam said the key infrastructure component in the development of MCKIP is the Kuantan Port expansion, which will see Kuantan Port doubling its capacity to 52 million freight weight tonnes per year.

He said the Kuantan Port expansion was undertaken as a Public-Private Partnership initiative, with the Malaysian government investing RM1.1 billion in this project, while another RM3 billion will be invested by Kuantan Port Consortium, the concessionaire of Kuantan Port.

Kuantan Port Consortium is a joint venture between Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group Co. Ltd. from China and IJM Corporation Bhd. — Bernama