Terengganu realised RM2.4bil in investments in Q1, says Dr Sam

KUALA NERUS: The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) has successfully realised investments worth RM2.4bil in Terengganu as of March 2024.

Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said the investments included in the fields of iron and steel manufacturing, napier cultivation, pulp mills and food containers which created 5,000 job opportunities for the locals.

He said the value of the investments represented 57% of the RM4.2bil investment target set by ECERDC for the state of Terengganu this year.

“ECERDC also managed to attract new committed investments worth RM1.02bil in the oil, gas and petrochemical (RM940mil); services (RM50mil); tourism (RM20mil) and manufacturing (RM10mil) as of March.

“A total of 65% involved foreign direct investments (FDIs) with the highest investment received from Japan which was RM660mil,” he said in a statement after chairing a meeting of the Implementation and Coordination Committee (ICC) of the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) here Sunday (March 24).

Also present at the ICC meeting were Terengganu state secretary Datuk Seri Tengku Farok Hussin Tengku Abdul Jalil; secretary of the development division of the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Jazmanie Shafawi; and ECERDC chief executive officer Datuk Baidzawi Che Mat.

Baidzawi said the ICC meeting also discussed the development of the recreational vehicle (RV) industry in an effort to make Malaysia a hub in Asia-Pacific by 2025.

According to him, several locations have been identified to be developed as RV parks in Terengganu.

“ECERDC has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a leading power generation company from China.

“For the Kuala Terengganu airport road (KTAR) project, progress has reached 37% as of February 2024,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate ceremony, Baidzawi also completed the handing over of Surau Al-Ikhwan Teluk Ketapang to the Terengganu Religious Affairs Department and the Teluk Ketapang kindergarten to the state Community Development Department.

He said the two infrastructure delopments worth almost RM1mil under the KTAR project were able to benefit about 2,000 residents around Kampung Teluk Ketapang and nearby areas.

“The surau and kindergarten are part of the KTAR project implemented at a cost of RM28mil by the federal government through the ECERDC,” he said. – BK