Tanjung Agas Oil, Gas and Maritime Industrial Park

The Government will look into ways to create a new economic model, emphasising more on the services sector, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Citing the Tanjung Agas Oil, Gas and Maritime Industrial Park, Najib said the project was a good example of a critical change in spearheading the country’s growth and wealth.

“Based on the development scale of the proposed park, it will be able to meet the demands and needs of oil and gas dredging activities in Malaysia and Asean region.

Sultan Ahmad Shah, Tengku Abdulah and Najib looking at a model of a tanker at the Tanjung Agas Oil, Gas and Maritime Industrial Park.

“At present, the services sector contributes about 54% of the Gross Domestic Product and our hope is to increase it further to 70% in the coming years.

“The shift will mark Malaysia’s coming of age as a knowledge-based economy in our quest to be an industrialised country,” he said in his speech during the ground-breaking ceremony of the project by Sultan Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah here yesterday.

Also present were Tengku Mahkota Tengku Abdullah, Tengku Muda Tengku Abdul Rahman who is also the chairman of Tanjung Agas Supply Base & Marine Services Sdn Bhd, the project’s concessionaire, and Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob.

Najib, who is Pekan MP, said the Federal Government would give full backing to the project dubbed the “Maritime Bay of the East,” which would act as a one-stop centre with advanced service facilities and offshore base.

He said under the first phase, some 5,000 job opportunities would be created. It is projected that the park will provide 30,000 jobs over a 10-year period.

The RM2bil park, spread across 1,833ha, comprises a shipyard, a fabrication yard, a dredger yard, a logistic base, a vessel lay-up anchorage as well as facilities for petroleum storage and blending.

In Tanjong Karang last night, Najib warned enforcement officers in local authorities to not pressure hawkers and petty traders but instead help them in their businesses.

“Enforcement officers have much contact with traders and it is these officers that should lend a hand or even advise those without licences to apply for one and not put pressure on them,” he said.

Earlier, Najib attended the gathering of the Federation of Malay Hawkers and Petty Trader where some 5,000 people attended at the Padang Astaka field in Tanjong Karang. Najib also handed over RM500,000 to the federation.

Also present were Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and the federation’s president Datuk Ramli Norani.

Najib will open and deliver the keynote address at the 7th Heads of Mission Conference at Putrajaya International Convention Centre tomorrow.

The conference with the theme “Malaysian Foreign Policy: Future Direction for 2009 to 2015” from June 21-27 begins with the 4th Honorary Consuls Meeting from June 18-22.