MID-EAST INVESTORS KEEN ON TANJUNG MANIS HALAL HUB

By Caroline Jackson

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Foreign investors, especially
from the Middle East, are to confirm their participation in the Tanjung Manis
Halal Hub project after visiting the 16,000ha site within the East Malaysia
state of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) for a development preview.

Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) general manager Sarudu
Hoklai said the Arab investors were particulalrly keen to tap on the vast
investment potentials because of the halal concept and green policy development
of the hub's products.

"They are still negotiating with the state government and we are looking forward
to follow up with more detailed discussions soon," he told reporters at the
STIDC Hari Raya (eid) open house here Monday.

The keen interest on the halal hub, for which the state government has tasked
the STIDC to provide more facilities and basic infrastructures for the Tanjung
Manis township, was the outcome of a high-level delegation led by Chief Minister
Abdul Taib Mahmud to London in July.

Taib had said the development of the halal hub as a green area would be highly
controlled by bio-technical processes, with a laboratory being set up to ensure
that the process would be well controlled and in conformity with the organic
nature of the products.

Sarudu said a group of investors from Bahrain, who came here in April, had also
expressed interest in setting up business ventures in the state's food-producing
sector, especially rice and livestock, as part of food security.

So far, the halal hub's infrastructure works, including roads, power and water
supplies, were in good progress and should be ready when the investors come in,
he said.

Among the infrastructures are the 20km-long Jalan Serdeng that links Sibu and
Tanjung Manis besides upgrading of the deepsea Tanjung Manis Port, airport and
banking facilities.

"Although we (STIDC) would like to have them completed much faster, we have
other constraints faced by other agencies in such a big exercise," he said.

In terms of accessibility, Sarudu said Tanjung Manis was well connected by road
via Mukah and Sibu as the entry point for investors while the existing deepsea
port was vital in terms of logistics.

However, there was a need to improve air connectivity, with better airport
facilities that were equipped to handle bigger aircraft as economic activities
in the area accelerated, he said.

Currently, Tanjung Manis Airport can only accommodate MASwing's 19-seater Twin
Otter planes.
-- BERNAMA