MALAYSIAN PM NAJIB:ETP HAS GARNERED RM106.4 BLN IN INVESTMENTS

PUTRAJAYA, April 19 (Bernama) – Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
unveiled seven all-new projects Tuesday to further strengthen the continued
interest of investors in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), which has
to date garnered RM106.405 billion (US$1=RM3.02) in investments, RM153.83
billion in Gross National Income (GNI) and 298,865 new jobs.

The 72 projects within 54 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) announced to date,
means that 41.2 per cent of the 131 EPPs have commenced, all in less than
six months since the ETP was launched.

"Now, that is big results fast," he said when announcing the latest
investment projects.

Also present was Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mustapa
Mohamad and PEMANDU chief executive officer, Idris Jala.

Among the latest projects are Infineon Technologies will invest RM480
million to expand and upgrade its production capacity, research and development
and manufacturing facilities in Malacca.

Pensonic Holdings Sdn Bhd's establishment of the electrical home
appliances manufacturing hub and international distribution network in Penang,
will involve a total investment of RM250 million.

To enhance the efficiency of container clearance by reducing the queuing
time at Customs checkpoints, improving security through the automatic detection
of a compromised or open container, and optimising human resources for better
services, RM45 million will be invested to provide the Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) infrastructure.

The RFID will enable security and automation of paperless Royal Malaysian
Customs checkpoints throughout Malaysia.

MYLED MASTER Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary, MYLED Opto Technology Sdn Bhd, will
be expanding their manufacturing capability in the green technology sector.

Located in Malacca with an investment of RM175 million, this production
facility is set to meet the growing demand for solid state lighting, both
locally and in overseas market such as India and the Middle East in two years
time, said Najib, who is also the Finance Minister.

In addition, it will also house research and development operations, where
innovation and creativity will help to bring costs down further. It is expected
to have a GNI impact of RM100 million and create up to 900 jobs.

Asia Media will invest RM500 million in developing the first Digital Live
Transit-TV Broadcasting infrastructure in Malaysia.

This mobile broadcast network in public transportation falls squarely within
the Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) NKEA.

"By adopting international broadcasting standard infrastructure, the
organisation will be capable of delivering live video and voice to the transit
industry such as the Light Rapid Transit, bus network and perhaps even, the Mass
Rapid Transit in the future.

"This project is expected to generate RM604 million in GNI and about 400
jobs," he said.

Najib said as the government has begun to look into e-government and
paperless initiatives in a bid to be a more environmentally friendly and modern,
the next initiative, which also falls within the CCI NKEA, is a
baseline study on e-counter services and paperless government.

The project aims to establish baseline measurements on government
initiatives for the improvement of services, specifically in the transformation
towards an electronic government (EG) and going paperless.

Managed by the Malaysia Administrative Modernisation And Management Planning
Unit (MAMPU) and Government Integrated Telecommunications Network (GITN), the
project involves data collection and an analysis of e-counter services,
electronic transactions and paperless government initiatives in the public
sector, an assessment of government agencies’ data centres as well as network
infrastructure and services.

Once completed, it will ensure that services provided by the government are
more transparent, fit-for-purpose, efficient and effective to the Rakyat. The
government will invest RM3.261 million in the project that will see the creation
of 155 jobs.

He said the CCI NKEA is also kick-starting a government initiative to
provide a unique and official email account and identification for citizens of
Malaysia.

The prime minister said with a GNI impact of RM39 million up to 2015, this
1MY email initiative will allow direct and secure communications between
Malaysian citizens and the government, as well as enhance the delivery of
government services to consumers and businesses alike.

Tricubes Bhd will spearhead this RM50 million investment which also includes
the development of a web portal, an email account for all Malaysian citizens
aged 18 and above, a one-stop centre for government services, provision of
value-added services such as social networking, checking bills online as well as
payment, in addition to web development toolkits for citizens and business
entities to creatively develop applications.

As for education, he said , the International Islamic University
Malaysia will spearhead an initiative to develop and position Malaysia as one of
the world’s leading Islamic finance education hubs.

It will invest RM3.17 million to set up the Islamic Finance and Banking
education cluster that will develop and harmonise globally accepted curricula in
Islamic Finance-related areas.

It will also establish the Association for Islamic Finance Advancement
(AIFA), which will accredit programmes as well as advance and promote Islamic
Finance education globally.

With a GNI impact of RM1.2 billion by 2020, it will see the
creation of about 4,300 related jobs.

Tourism continues to be a solid income earner for the country.

In Sabah, a consortium comprising Prism Crystal Enterprises Ltd, Dr
Chen Lip Keong and group of companies together with landowners, Karambunai Corp
Bhd and Petaling Tin Bhd, will develop the Karambunai Integrated Resort City
(KIRC) with an investment of RM 9.6 billion.

Contributing a GNI of about RM9.319 billion by 2020 and creating about
11,002 jobs by then, this premier world-class ecotourism destination will
leverage on Malaysia’s competitive advantages in ecotourism and biodiversity,
and feature tourism, health and eco-nature edutainment recreation facilities, he
said.

This will also include a water theme park, water spectacles and fountain,
cable car, mangrove research centre, harbour cruise, aqua and spa village
amongst others.

Led by the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA), the "Pasar
Komuniti" initiative (PAKAR) is a concerted effort to co-ordinate and amalgamate
them in location with better facilities.

"With an investment of RM50 million, PAKAR will not only benefit the
entrepreneurs but also the consumers, who will experience convenience and
comfortable shopping within a solid and fixed structure," Najib said.

This project will contribute RM3.52 billion in GNI annually by 2020 and
create 56,400 jobs.