KUCHING, Sept 22 ― Sarawak is hoping for over RM30 billion investment from China this year, with the single biggest investment the RM13 billion in the steel industry in Samalaju Industrial Park in Bintulu.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the state government has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with China-based company, Hebei Xinwuan Steel Group, for the proposed steel project.
“The company is currently conducting a feasibility study on the proposed steel industry,” he told reporters here today after receiving a courtesy call from a business delegation from China's Fujian Province.
The Chinese delegation was led by Liang Jianyong, a member of the standing committee and secretary general of the Communist Party of China's Fujian provincial committee.
Earlier in his speech to the Chinese delegation, Awang Tengah, who is also state minister of industrial and entrepreneur development, said Sarawak has remained the top three most popular investment destinations in Malaysia for Chinese companies.
“China remains an important trading partner and becoming an emerging source of foreign direct investment for Sarawak,” he said.
He said the other most notable investments are the RM1.7 billion in an integrated solar facility which produces wafers, ingots, cells and panels in Bintulu and a RM83 million Standard Malaysia Rubber factory in Debak, Betong division.
Awang Tengah said the China Gezhouza Group of Company Limited and local-based Untang Jaya Sdn Bhd have signed a contract with Sarawak Energy Berhad for the main civil works of the proposed Baleh hydroelectric plant in Kapit division.
He said a Chinese company is also investing in state-owned RM13.3 billion Sarawak Petrochem Sdn Bhd, a methanol plant in Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu.
He added that the Yangtze Three Gorges Technology and Economy Development was involved in the construction of the recently completed 944-megawatts Murum Dam, costing about RM4.5 billion.
On trade, Sarawak exported about RM76.7 billion to China last year, mostly natural gas, timber and timber products and electrical components and imported RM5.3 billion worth of products, mainly manufactured goods and machineries.
