Kuantan Port City can attract RM38bil investments by 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuantan Port City (KPC) is projected to attract up to RM38bil investments by 2020, and help the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) and the country’s first Special Economic Zone located within it, to be an industrial and logistics hub.
The ECER encompasses Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang as well as the Mersing district in Johor.
KPC forms one of the main components of the development corridor. Encompassing 12,667ha, the completed project will see a throughput of 24 million tonnes, create 44,785 jobs and contribute RM9.3bil to the local economy by 2020.
According to a shipping analyst, KPC projects would certainly transform Kuantan Port into a mega port as the development calls for the expansion of Kuantan Port.
He said feasibility studies had been completed. “With new port facilities, it will enable the port to receive vessels above 40,000 tonnes or the next generation of container ships,” he said.
The analyst said KPC’s integrated development would also result in petrochemical, palm oil, automotive, container markets, as well as a major industrial and manufacturing zone serving the entire Asia-Pacific region.
He said KPC would also be the site for a Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) with one of its manufacturing components specialising in the downstream palm oil industry and the petrochemical cluster. Construction work at the POIC began in September last year. “The port city will improve the income and skills of the population while providing them with convenient and safe access to modern and efficient facilities and infrastructure,” the analyst said.
The Integrated Master Plan for KPC has been finalised and was handed over to the Kuantan Municipal Council last year.
Meanwhile, improvements in KPC’s main infrastructure, such as roads and drainage system, commenced this year.
To improve the water quality in KPC, a two-km water pipeline in Gebeng was completed and was handed over to the Pahang Water Supply Department in March last year. Land clearing and survey works for the construction of Panching Water Treatment Plant, are ongoing.
Once completed, the water treatment plant will have a capacity of 160 million litres per day, which will ensure adequate water supply, particularly in the Gebeng area.
To serve KPC, a multimodal network of highways, roads, railway and airports will move people and goods between KPC and the hinterland or the industrial clusters.
A logistics and distribution centre located near the port will also substantially improve the handling of goods.
KPC covers the existing Gebeng industrial area and Kuantan Port, up to the Mardi Institute in the north and the Pahang border in the west.
Source: BizStar
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