KOTA KINABALU – The Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) industrial park in Lahad Datu has inked three agreements this week on land sale, land lease and a bulking tank.
POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Fredian Gan said he sees the development as a sign that investors recognise Lahad Datu’s growing potential and importance in East Asia.
The deals signed in Lahad Datu and witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor added to about RM3 billion of investments by 55 investors since the industrial park started in 2005.
One of the deals was signed by locally registered Bumi Teraju Sdn Bhd for the lease of 2.57ac (1.04ha) of land for the manufacture of organic fertilisers, involving an investment value of RM18 million, with 60 potential jobs created.
The factory, expected to begin production in 2023, has the capacity to produce 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes of fertilisers per year.
It will join the existing 11 fertiliser factories in the fertiliser cluster at POIC Lahad Datu.
The cluster has an annual capacity exceeding 1.3 megatonnes, and can potentially capture the demand of the burgeoning plantation and agriculture industries in the region.
Another deal was signed by Gamalux Oils Sdn Bhd, which has an existing plant at POIC Lahad Datu to extract palm oil residue from spent bleaching earth.
The company has bought 3ac of land for its additional manufacturing complex consisting of a new oleochemical plant. In total, Gamalux invested in 11.1ac in POIC Lahad Datu, with 120 new jobs expected.
Listed plantation company KL-Kepong (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, which has a palm oil processing plant located close to POIC Lahad Datu, has signed a deal as one of the first users of the industrial park’s bulking installation, which was launched by Hajiji on Monday.
The facility has tanks to store up to 20,000 tonnes of palm oil.
With the POIC liquid cargo terminal nearby, linked by pipes to the storage tanks, the bulking installation is a facility that complements exporters and importers of palm oil and palm oil-based products.
Meanwhile, Gan, who signed the agreements on behalf of the state-owned company said the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) is now very much on POIC Lahad Datu’s radar as they discuss air and sea connectivity and using the industrial park as an amalgamation point for BIMP-EAGA’s raw materials – as well as a manufacturing and transshipment hub.
“There is growing interest in us from EAGA territories such as Celebes, Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, and Mindanao ARMM (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao), and we are talking with the BIMP-EAGA Business Council, the Sabah-China Chamber of Commerce, the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) and others to highlight our potential and bring in investors.”
POIC Sabah, the holding company of POIC Lahad Datu recently received a trade delegation from Palawan and held a second round of discussions with top officials of the MCBC in Kota Kinabalu. – The Vibes, September 9, 2022
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