ECER expects RM90b investments, 220K jobs

Published: 2009/08/04

THE East Coast Economic Region Special Economic Zone (ECER SEZ) is expected to create more than 220,000 job opportunities and attract RM90 billion in domestic and international investments by 2020, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.ECER SEZ is the first special economic zone in Malaysia.

Najib said four free zones would be created in ECER SEZ to encourage and promote chains between industry clusters that would give significant impact on the ECER economy, namely High Value Manufacturing, Agro-based Industry; Gas and Petrochemical; Tourism/Real Estate; and Knowledge/Education and ICT as well as Logistiscs.

Although physically the zones make up only six per cent of the total ECER area, it has a very big economic impact including its capacity to contribute 50 per cent of the job opportunities as compared to ECER as a whole and contribute 80 per cent of the economic products for the whole of ECER.

In this regard, Najib said the Kuantan Port would also be upgraded and expanded so that it would be capable of handling more than 30 million metric tonnes of cargo annually by 2020 from 16.8 million metric tonnes now.

It would also be able to play its roles as a major port in the East Coast and a trade gateway for the Asia-Pacific market.Besides that, Najib also announced that the ECER Development Council had kicked off the Agropolitan project -- an integrated development project whose main objective is to eradicate poverty among local residents. - Bernama