Private sector in the driver’s seat
By WONG CHUN WAI
TheStar BizWeek 7 July 2007

In an exclusive interview with BizWeek, Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi provides a glimpse of what to expect from the Northern Corridor Economic Region project and the role of the private sector.




THE past few months have been hectic for Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi as the Government pushes the rollout of major Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) programmes and high-impact projects, including the Iskandar Development Region and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), which will be launched at the end of the month.

The expectations are high and as the clock ticks away, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department has found himself and his staff racing to meet the deadline.

It was already 6pm when he walked into his apartment in Kuala Lumpur – two hours late for this interview. “I am sorry as I had to attend a last-minute meeting in Putrajaya on the Northern Corridor,’’ he apologises profusely.

“We are in the exciting phase of the implementation process. The masterplan for the Northern Corridor will be unveiled soon, followed by that for the Eastern Corridor,” he adds. Sime Darby Bhd, one of Asia’s largest conglomerates, with substantial plantation and property holdings, has been given the job of drawing up the masterplan.

“In the coming weeks and months, more initiatives will be unveiled, especially in areas that require fresh changes and where there have been dialogues and discussions between the public and private sectors,’’ says the minister.

However, he is not prepared to disclose more about the NCER, well aware that it should be left to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to spell out the details. As part of the launch of the NCER, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Kedah and Perlis on July 30, and Penang and northern Perak the following day.

To be accompanied by other Cabinet members, he is expected to announce a slew of initiatives that are set to transform the four states. The development focus for each state will leverage on the existing economic strengths of the area, such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital.



Big plans up north

Bits of information on the NCER have already been floating around for some time. For example, one component will be the RM1.1bil Penang Monorail, with two lines of 37km to be built on the island and future extension to the mainland.

A bus network, along the lines of Rapid KL, with 150 buses will begin operations soon in the state.

Penang’s much-awaited RM2.7bil second bridge, which will link Batu Maung on the island and Batu Kawan on the mainland, is also set to bring spin-offs for the state, especially in the property sector. The 24km bridge is likely to ease the congestion at the present 13.5km bridge, which is already 21 years old.

The network of roads through the Penang Outer Ring Road, the second bridge and the public transport upgrade are essential elements that must precede the rollout of other projects in the state.

Penang will also be made a regional transportation hub. There is talk that Air Asia would fly to major destinations from Penang. One project, also expected to be announced soon, is the setting up of a low-cost carrier centre at the Penang International Airport.

The container wharves at the Penang Port will be deepened, while on the mainland, food processing centres (including a halal hub) will be set up to handle agricultural products from Kedah, Perlis and northern Perak.

Kedah and Perlis have been earmarked for an agricultural push, with modern padi farming techniques to be introduced to boost the earnings of the farmers in the country’s Malay heartland. One plan is to increase harvesting to three times a year from the present two.

The Prime Minister is expected to unveil a special padi grain on July 30. This is meant to improve the padi yield in Kedah and Perlis. Also, Sime Darby is likely to provide details of its seeds research centre, whose key aim is to develop quality rice.

Potatoes will be cultivated for non-food use, particularly as bio-plastics and composites, as part of the downstream activities to improve the livelihood of farmers.

Irrigation and flood mitigation projects have been conceived for padi farming areas in Kedah, while an inland container depot will be built. In Langkawi, tourism facilities will come up on the outer islands.



Corridors of dream

In northern Perak and Perlis, the thrust will be on human capital development, such as the building of vocational and skills training centres. In Selama, for example, animal husbandry will be the focus.

Vocational training and an agriculture faculty in a northern state university are being planned to help school-leavers and agriculture graduates to become modern farmers.

Says Effendi: “There is also the Penang City Park, a mixed development which we are facilitating and assisting. It will be iconic and exciting.”

The proposed project is a 15-year project covering serviced apartments with healthcare facilities, houses, retail outlets, a hotel, convention centres and office space. The development will boost the state’s economy and create thousands of jobs.

A metropolitan park that will link the City Park, Youth Park and Botanical Garden is on the cards. This will preserve the state’s 860 acres of green lung, reflecting the authorities' commitment to protect the environment.

There are other environment-related aspects of the NCER project. In Perak, the Belum Forest has been earmarked for herbal plants research. The northern region has 51.9% of forestland, which the Government is determined to preserve.

While the finishing touches are being applied to the NCER plan, follow-up actions have been taken on the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in south Johor, for which over RM4bil has been allocated for infrastructure development.

“These projects embody the Government’s ambitious goal of making the whole country a hassle-free place for the private sector to flourish,” says Effendi.

“However, it will take time to cover the entire nation. This corridor development approach, covering the major regions of the country, offers the advantage of speedy implementation, excellent infrastructure and a one-stop agency to deal with.”

http://biz.thestar.com.my/archives/2007/7/7/bizweek/bw_12secondbridge.jpg
The Second Penand Bridge is an essential part of the state’s development plans



Private sector to the fore

There is an element that makes the 9MP different from the previous five-year plans. Effendi points out: “In the past, the economy has been predominantly driven by the public sector. But now, since we have a more developed and mature private sector, it’s time to change that.

“We would like the private sector to be the prime mover of economic growth as is the case with the developed economies.

He adds, “The 8MP saw the ratio of contribution to the economy as 60:40, the public sector accounting for 60%. The 9MP aims to reverse this so that the public sector’s contribution is reduced to 40% and the private sector goes up to 60%.

“To sustain the country’s GDP growth at 6% to 7% or higher, the private sector must continue to invest, add production capacity and become the main engine of growth.

“During the 8MP, the private sector investment growth was – 1%, compared to the 7MP period. Our challenge in 9MP is to achieve 11% growth. In order to accomplish this, the private sector has to invest RM378bil from 2006 to 2010.”

The IDR, for example, will need plenty of private investors, particularly those from Singapore, to make it a reality.

The Penang City Park, a unique housing development scheme that cleverly blends in with the environment, including the setting up green lungs, is a private initiative.

Equine Capital Bhd subsidiary, Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, which is already developing a township in Batu Kawan, is handling the Penang City Park, which hopes to draw top-notch buyers. Foreign fund managers and investors in Europe have already expressed their interest in the project as Penang is a brand name.

Describing himself as a “facilitator” for the government and the private sector, Effendi was a banker, civil servant, businessman, Sarawak state assemblyman and Member of Parliament.

“I have been on both sides. There has to be a mutual trust on both sides. The private sector needs efficiency and prompt decisions, while the public sector has its procedures, rules and circulars to follow,” he says.

“What we need is a mechanism through which both sides can understand each other, merge and make Malaysia more vibrant.”

Effendi regards himself as lucky. As an appointed senator, he is free from the punishing constituency work, and is able to devote his time totally to national development. “You can say I am now in the middle ground, and my role is to bring the two sides together.”



Building trust

Throughout the interview, Effendi focused his attention on the importance of the private sector, saying “We can only develop a real mature economy if there is a strong and healthy collaboration between the Government and the private sector.”

How can we build this trust? His reply: “I believe that action speaks louder than words. The Prime Minister himself “walks the talk” in many instances.

“The National Implementation Task Force (NITF) has set up a Private Sector Investment Advisory Panel to examine various issues affecting the private sector. This panel holds regular dialogue sessions and meetings with the private sector to seek input on how to improve Malaysia’s investment climate. The Government also pro-actively looks into ways to reduce bureaucracy and red tape.”

Chaired by Abdullah, NITF has established standing and working committees on the education, health, tourism and services sectors, among others.

Effendi points out that the decision to waive the real property gains tax was made within a month after the Government had engaged the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association in a discussion.

“We worked with Iskandar Regional Development Authority to come up with incentive package for IDR which was finalised and approved within a month,” he says. Another example, he adds, was the setting up of Pemudah, a high-powered task force that looks into cutting red tape in the public service delivery system.

“The task force has been given six months to come out with actions. Since it had been set up in February, Pemudah has implemented a series of initiatives to make government processes and procedures more efficient,” he says.

One of these is the shortening of the time to register new companies from more than a month to only 24 hours.

“Another example in the property and construction sector, is the setting up of a One-Stop-Centre (OSC) to shorten processing time of development project approvals at the local government level. With this OSC, process time was cut from 3-5 years to a mere 4-6 months,” says Effendi.

When the interview came to an end, it was nearly 7.30pm. Effendi walked to this writer to the entrance of his condominium. “This is not the end of the day for me. Yes, all of us in Pak Lah’s team have been very busy, but there is more to come. Things are being set in motion for this national mission,” he assures.

looks like the supporting beams will be construct out of steel. In shorter words, steel girder bridge.

I bet Perlis would least to benefit from NCER. Much developments are geared towards Penand and Kedah....again, Perlis is on the backburner.

Bridge project faces piling woes
Sunday July 8, 2007
TheStar


BUTTERWORTH: UEM Builders, the company undertaking the RM200mil expansion of the Penang Bridge project, has encountered some technical problems due to intensified piling works for the project.

The company’s managing-director Ridza Abdoh Salleh admitted yesterday that the piling works had caused certain areas “to experience land-induced settlement problems,” causing existing structures to sink in further.

He said this was because in certain areas along the bridge piling works were done too near to the bridge, with the nearest about 5m away.

“We have to be extra cautious about the problem as we want to minimise land-induced settlement that will not affect the bridge’s structural design.

“Our engineers are working round-the-clock to monitor the problems, which may cause delay in piling works,” he said yesterday.

Ridza said the situation was under control and that motorists need not worry about the bridge structures as such problems were bound to happen when piling works were carried out too close to a building or structure.

He said the piling works also encountered soil problems as some layers of the soil were quite weak, adding that piles had to be driven deep down the seabed to ensure stability and strength of pillars for the third-lane expansion project.

Ridza said the two lanes on the bridge, except the third outer lane on the bridge’s middle-span, would remain open until the project was completed by the end of next year.

He said one of the two lanes would be closed when the beams are launched, adding that the company would schedule work for the launching of the beams.

“We will inform motorists of our work schedule. We will only close one of the lanes after midnight to facilitate work,” he added.

Bridge project faces piling woes
Sunday July 8, 2007
TheStar


BUTTERWORTH: UEM Builders, the company undertaking the RM200mil expansion of the Penang Bridge project, has encountered some technical problems due to intensified piling works for the project.

The company’s managing-director Ridza Abdoh Salleh admitted yesterday that the piling works had caused certain areas “to experience land-induced settlement problems,” causing existing structures to sink in further.

He said this was because in certain areas along the bridge piling works were done too near to the bridge, with the nearest about 5m away.

“We have to be extra cautious about the problem as we want to minimise land-induced settlement that will not affect the bridge’s structural design.

“Our engineers are working round-the-clock to monitor the problems, which may cause delay in piling works,” he said yesterday.

Ridza said the situation was under control and that motorists need not worry about the bridge structures as such problems were bound to happen when piling works were carried out too close to a building or structure.

He said the piling works also encountered soil problems as some layers of the soil were quite weak, adding that piles had to be driven deep down the seabed to ensure stability and strength of pillars for the third-lane expansion project.

Ridza said the two lanes on the bridge, except the third outer lane on the bridge’s middle-span, would remain open until the project was completed by the end of next year.

He said one of the two lanes would be closed when the beams are launched, adding that the company would schedule work for the launching of the beams.

“We will inform motorists of our work schedule. We will only close one of the lanes after midnight to facilitate work,” he added.

This is really a bad news.
Hope that if UEM don't have the expertise, pls ask other people for advise.
I am not look down at UEM, but just that the confident level was not high.

are they sure the current structure can accommodate additional lanes?

Sime Darby Sees NCER From Foreign Investor Perspective
Updated : 21-07-2007


KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- Sime Darby Bhd, the masterplanner for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), sees development in the region from the foreign investor perspective.

"We are a regional player that have successfully invested overseas. You are looking at a local `foreigner' coming back to invest in Malaysia," its group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid told Bernama in an interview recently.

"We believe that the government has given us the confidence. It is also in the sense that Sime Darby is a conglomerate and we have vast experience in agriculture," he said.

The NCER, which Sime Darby is tasked with drawing up the blueprint, will be covering four states to be combined as one region in the north, namely Perlis, Kedah, Penang and the northern part of Perak.

Sime Darby, with plantation, automotive and property as its core businesses, has a good track record around the world, including in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Australia.

Asked how confident Sime Darby was with the NCER, Ahmad Zubir said that both the blueprint and implementation "are doable".

"It is a viable project. We have gone through every potential areas thoroughly. The key success factors would be the implementation, support and buy-in of the public, private sector as well as government agencies," he said.

"Unlike Petronas and Khazanah which are not public-listed companies, we at Sime Darby have minority shareholders whom we must be responsible for. We have to be totally different," he added.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), the national oil corporation, has been tasked with developing the Eastern Corridor while Khazanah Nasional Bhd looks after the Southern Johor Economic Region, better known as the Iskandar Development Region (IDR).

Ahmad Zubir said the NCER was expected to create half a million employment opportunities by 2012 and a million job opportunities by 2020.

The economic region, with the four main economic thrusts of agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital, is going to be developed over a period of more than 20 years.

Besides being the masterplanner, Sime Darby will also participate in the NCER as an investor after handing over the blueprint to the implementation body, Northern Corridor Implementation Agency (NCIA).

As part of the NCER development, the group planned an initial investment of about RM25 million to set up a research centre to develop seed cultivation and production in Perlis, Ahmad Zubir said.

"We are also looking at setting up cattle rearing (feedlots and cattle integration) in Selama in a joint venture with Permodalan Nasional Bhd with an investment of RM20 over million," he said.

Sime Darby is also looking at oil and gas business, which is believed to be related to the US$7 billion Trans-Peninsular Pipeline Project that will link Kedah to Kelantan.

"We are looking to have a yard in the north. That has not been finalised yet. We are looking at the Yan area (in Kedah)," Ahmad Zubir said but declined to provide further details.

He also said that Sime Darby took 12 months to complete the blueprint by hiring consultants for each of the potential sectors covering agriculture, manufacturing and services to be developed in the region.

Sime Darby is on track to be merged as one entity under Synergy Drive Sdn Bhd, together with Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd.

Synergy Drive, which will be one of the world's largest plantation groups, is set to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in November this year.

Live telecast for NCER launch
Tuesday July 24, 2007
By WONG CHUN WAI
TheStar

ALOR STAR: The launch of the multi-billion-ringgit Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) on Monday, where the Prime Minister will unveil a slew of projects, will be telecast live.

At least 10,000 people, including Cabinet members and state executive councillors, will be attending the event at the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) headquarters here.

Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said Kedah will be the first stop in Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s visit to the four states on July 30 and July 31.

“The NCER is a crucial element of the Ninth Malaysia Plan which will bring tremendous benefit to the people. We want the people to hear directly what the PM has to say,” Zainuddin said in an interview.

Abdullah is expected to reveal plans for high-end tourism in Langkawi, where two outer islands have been earmarked for the construction of world-class resorts.

Nursing colleges will also be set up while hospitals will be built along Pantai Kok for the island’s medical tourism plan.

On the mainland, there will be a premier industrial park in Kulim and high-yield padi farming and irrigation programmes for the state’s padi farmers.

Zainuddin said RTM will also telecast live the opening of the Seed Research and Development Centre in Perlis on the same day.

The centre is being initiated by Sime Darby, which has been entrusted with drawing up the NCER masterplan.

An inland container depot, border town development, seed production centre and climatic fruit cluster programmes are in the pipeline for Perlis.

The plans for Kedah and Perlis will make the two states the country's premier food production centre, using modern agricultural management practices and distribution.

Zainuddin, who is Merbok MP, said padi farmers in Kedah and Perlis will benefit from the NCER, adding that they formed the Malay rural heartland of Malaysia.

“RTM will also telecast live the unveiling of plans to turn Penang into a regional logistics hub by the Prime Minister on July 31 in Butterworth,” he said, adding that more than 5,000 people are expected to attend the event.

Abdullah is expected to launch the new RapidPenang bus service.

Under the NCER, Penang Port's wharf depth will be deepened while its container terminal will be expanded.

The Penang International Airport will be expanded to include a low-cost carrier terminal and its cargo terminal will be upgraded.

I don't know why they need to live telecast for this launching.
Most of the projects, we already know.

Is it because they want to have huge publicity so to get more polls from the rural area?

Frankly... if they are really keen and put afford in making this project successful and beneficial to the citizens of Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak...

I wouldn't mind whatever publicity they make in order to get more votes or whatsoever they have in mind...

Halal hub plan in Sg Petani
Wednesday July 25, 2007
By DAVID TAN
TheStar


HADHARI Cattle Industry Sdn Bhd is proposing to establish a 323.7ha halal city hub in Sungai Petani, along the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Its director Mahathir Mahmad Akhir said in a telephone interview that the plans had been submitted to the relevant authorities in Kedah for study.

“We are now identifying a suitable site for the project.

“Our intention is to create the largest halal food hub in the country, which is line with the objectives of the Ninth Malaysia Plan to develop the Northern Corridor Economic Region,'' he said.

He was commenting on the NCER initiative to create a halal food hub in the northern region and to generate downstream businesses for local agricultural players.

According to the proposal, the halal city hub will feature a university specialising in agriculture technology on an 80.9ha site, a 20.2ha commercial zone for halal food business, residential homes and a 32.3ha recreational park.

“Our plan is to invite local and overseas investors, from the Middle-East for example, to jointly develop some of the schemes with us.

“We have already found two investors, one from China and the other from Indonesia, who are keen to invest in the project to set up a halal food production business,” he said.

Mahathir said that such a city would create a lot of halal downstream activities for the farmers.

“There will be a need for more cattle raising activities, to supply fresh beef, frozen beef products and beef fat,” he added.

Hadhari Cattle Industry, which presently runs an abattoir in Jitra, Kedah, slaughters some 150 heads of cattle per day.

“We are gradually increasing our slaughter to 400 heads of cattle per day or 10,000 per month,” he said.

In Inner Mongolia, Hadhari Cattle Industry operates a RM100mil integrated meat processing facility, which supplies halal meat to major cities in China and the Middle East.

“We have recently invested RM130mil to set up a second integrated halal meat processing facility in Chiefeng, Inner Mongolia,'' he added.

Meanwhile, DXN Holdings Bhd managing director Lim Boon Yee said a centralised halal city would create enormous demand for the group’s halal food supplements.

Listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia, DXN is a specialist in farming ganoderma, a type of fungus used in making food supplements and skin care products.

It operates a 34.3ha ganoderma farm in Bukit Wang, Kedah.

“We look forward to such a halal city being set up as it will create fresh demands for our halal food supplements,” he said.

Lim said DXN was also exploring to produce halal capsules.

“Halal capsules require halal gelatine as raw material, which can only be obtained from cattle bone.

“Such a halal capsule business will in turn create demand for the downstream halal gelatine manufacturing business, which will in turn stimulate the cattle business in the NCER,” he added.

Lim said DXN, which exports some 80% of its food supplements to the Middle East, had extensive marketing networks in the region.

“DXN can, using its marketing and distribution channels in the Middle East, help the businesses in the halal city market their products in the Middle East,” he said.

Penang poised to be northern ‘gateway’
Wednesday July 25, 2007
TheStar


PENANG: Under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), Penang will serve as a springboard by becoming the import and export ‘gateway’ for the northern states.

As a logistics hub for the NCER, agricultural produce and proces-sed food from North Seberang Prai, Perlis and Kedah would be exported through the state, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon told a press conference yester- day.

“Under the NCER, which is part of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, we will see the widening of the Penang Bridge, construction of the second bridge and Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR), expansion of the Penang International Airport and North Butterworth Container Terminal, the implementation of the mono-rail and integrated bus service.

“These projects will enable the state to become a more efficient, dynamic and effective hub for trade and commerce in the region,” he said.

Dr Koh said the state govern-ment would work closely with the governments of Perlis, Kedah and Perak to boost economic growth in the region.

He said it was time to think “out-of-the-state”and look at the neigh-bouring northern states as busi-ness partners to help develop a land mass that was 32 times larger than Penang.

Dr Koh, who returned from the Malaysian Industrial Develop-ment Authority’s (MIDA) trade and investment mission in Japan on Monday night, said several investors had expressed interest in growing their investment in the state.

“I met with top leaders of the Toray Group, Tanaka and Renasas (formerly Hitachi) to brief them about the state’s upcoming projects and the future prospects.

“The feedback has been very positive,” he said, adding that the hi-tech electronics hub, which includes Parit Buntar, Seberang Prai, Kulim and Sungai Petani, would mark another chapter of growth for the state.

Dr Koh noted that the NCER would include promoting Penang and Langkawi as a world-class resort, spa and medical tourism destination, as well as a modern agriculture and food processing zone in North Seberang Prai, Kedah and Perlis.

“With the Federal Government overseeing the NCER, we can be more focused and concentrated in our efforts. The NCER projects will also spur the growth of other economic activities for the state which would lead to higher income for the rakyat.”

Property firms to get NCER benefits
25 Jul 2007 10:36 AM
THEEDGEDAILY


KUALA LUMPUR: Property and construction companies are said to be the prime beneficiaries of the estimated RM50 billion (:shocked:) that is expected to be invested in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Property companies including Hunza Properties Bhd, SP Setia Bhd and Mah Sing Group Bhd are expected to benefit from the appreciation in asset prices while the construction boys such as Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd and UEM Builders are front runners for the infrastructure jobs.

UEM Builders has already secured the RM3.3 billion Second Penang bridge project which it is undertaking together with a Chinese company. IJM Corporation Bhd is also said to be a beneficiary from the bridge project.

As for MRCB, it is slated for the Butterworth Terminal project that is to be styled after KL Sentral. A consortium led by MRCB, that also includes the Penang Port Commission and Scomi Engineering Bhd are bidding for the RM1.3 billion Penang Monorail project.

On property companies, analysts said the NCER would be a catalyst for these companies as improved infrastructure and higher income levels would result in greater demand for properties in th eregion.

CIMB Research said the estimated RM50 billion NCER was realistic and positive for the development of the region but any significant impact was likely to be felt only in the longer term.

“Nonetheless, it is positive news for property companies with exposure to projects up north,” it said.

Companies with significant exposure to northern states and specifically Penang include Hunza Properties, SP Setia and Mah Sing, with all three stocks being rated to outperform by CIMB Research. The target prices of the stocks are RM3.82, RM8.75 and RM2.30 respectively.

Other potential beneficiaries are E&O Property Development Bhd, Equine Capital Bhd, Asas Dunia Bhd, Farlim Group (Malaysia) Bhd, Eupe Corporation Bhd and Plenitude Bhd.

“Hunza Properties arguably provides the best exposure as it has land bank on Penang Island, Penang mainland and Sungai Petani in Kedah,” said CIMB Research.

On the plantation sector, it said the higher demand for property in the northern region could benefit some of the oil palm players with estates located at strategic areas as it could be converted for property development over the medium- to long-term. It said the NCER could also open up opportunities for plantation players to invest in other agriculture products to diversify their crop mix.

There is no exciting development in NCER compared to IDR in Johor. Some of the projects in NCER has already known for quite sometime. But transforming Johor Bahru to become a metropolis is surely great. NCER people will forever be farmers and fishermen.:ohno:

Thursday July 26, 2007

Second Penang Bridge construction to start in November

By DAVID TAN

XIAMEN: China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is expected to start construction work on the second Penang bridge in November and will use a special technology for the project to ensure its completion in 2011.

CHEC information manager Ma Jie said the company would use the technology of pre-fabricated box beam, called the 'short-line matching' technology, to produce short sections of beams, each measuring 3 to 4 metres for the bridge.

"The small size of the beams will make it easy for them to be transported to the site of the bridge with smaller vessels.

"It is not practical to produce long beams, which require large vessels to carry them.

"Large vessels will have a tough time transporting the beams to the site because the sea surrounding the project is shallow.

Ann artist's impression of the Second Penang Bridge
"Finally, we can also manufacture small beams with greater measurement precision and accuracy," he said.

Ma added that construction work for the second bridge is expected to begin in November 2007.

Ma spoke at a briefing to some 20 journalists from Malaysia held in Xiamen, where CHEC is constructing the 3.8km Jimei Bridge, using the same technology.

The Penang second bridge is the sixth bridge undertaken by CHEC using the technology.

CHEC is using the same technology to build the Jimei and Sutong bridges in Xiamen and Shanghai.

"We expect to manufacture the beams in one year. It will take another 22 to 23 months to join the beams together," he said.

Ma said some six production lines to produce the beams would be set up in Penang.

"Construction work should begin before the year ends.

"Some 1,000 engineers and technicians from China are estimated to be involved in the project.

"They will be sent to Penang in gradual phases to work on the second bridge," he added.

Ma said pre-stress technology would also be used to manufacture the beams.

"The pre-stress technology enables the bridge to withstand the impact from an earthquake of 7 on the richter scale," he said.

Ma said the cost of the raw materials and the design of the bridge had yet to be finalised.

China is providing Malaysia US$800mil in loans, with a 3% interest rate and a repayment period of 20 years.

There is no exciting development in NCER compared to IDR in Johor. Some of the projects in NCER has already known for quite sometime. But transforming Johor Bahru to become a metropolis is surely great. NCER people will forever be farmers and fishermen.:ohno:

haha, you are damn right. We only can become fisherman, farmers. Catch the fish and plant the paddy for the IDR people.

I dun see what's wrong having strong agriculture sector in the North.

If some economic disaster like 1997 comes again, agriculture sector could actually absorb unemployment.People have to eat,so there's always $$$ to be made from agriculture.

To me, jgn la fikir tangkap ikan ja atau tnm padi ja. Kita boleh bt ikn dlm tin atau proses padi jdi benda baru ke. Mcm2 boleh bt dgn agriculture. Utara jadi pusat agriculture, IDR jdi pusat commercial. Bru la Malaysia seimbang. :)

July 27, 2007 22:39 PM

NCER Will Also Benefit Southern Thailand, Sumatra - Koh


PENANG, July 27 (Bernama) -- The concept and development of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) will also bring benefits to southern Thailand and Sumatra in Indonesia, Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said tonight.

The spillover effects of the economic momentum to be generated by NCER, which encompasses Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak, are bound to be felt in both neighbouring regions within a short period, he added.

Addressing the 62nd anniversary dinner of the Penang Importers and Exporters Association here, he raised the possibility that the positive economic impact could even help stabilise the political situation in southern Thailand.

According to Dr Koh, the NCER will turn Penang into a vital logistics hub besides becoming a major import-export centre for the northern region as the industrial sector steps up its pace.

"About 40 million people in the NCER, southern Thailand and Sumatra will benefit from the intensive economic development over five to 10 years after the NCER is implemented," he added.

In view of this, he urged the business community in Penang to fully support the NCER and work together to reap the prosperity that the NCER promises.

BERNAMA

To me, jgn la fikir tangkap ikan ja atau tnm padi ja. Kita boleh bt ikn dlm tin atau proses padi jdi benda baru ke. Mcm2 boleh bt dgn agriculture. Utara jadi pusat agriculture, IDR jdi pusat commercial. Bru la Malaysia seimbang. :)

well said.macam yang jepun buat bahagian utara pertanian,tengah dengan services & industri dan selatan industri.

haha, you are damn right. We only can become fisherman, farmers. Catch the fish and plant the paddy for the IDR people.

so..what do you eat ah? maggi tiap hari ke. :lol:

^^ barangkali dia makan angin aje :D

NCER big boost for Penang

By LOONG TSE MIN

PETALING JAYA: While the focus has been mainly on property and construction sectors, the expected launch of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) next week should also bring attention to many other Penang-based companies.

Deutsche Bank Co Research, in a report released on Wednesday, picked among others, Penang-based Asia File Corp Bhd and Globetronics Technology Bhd in the manufacturing sector, Hwang-DBS (M) Bhd in stockbroking, Shangri-La Hotels (M) Bhd in the tourism-related sector and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) in the infrastructure sector.

Penang's manufacturing sector, which has suffered from the “hollowing out” effect, is set to change with the Government about to kick off at least RM5bil worth of infrastructure projects.

“The NCER, we believe, will turn Butterworth into a major transport hub. Foreign direct investment had accelerated again to over RM4bil each for 2005 and 2006, up from its recent trough of RM1bil in 2004,” the report said.

As a result of the pick-up in spending, the island's infrastructure sector “is about to get bigger.”

Apart from UEM Builders Bhd, which was reportedly involved in the second Penang bridge, and MRCB, which was bidding for the Butterworth bus and train terminal, more names were expected to crop up, said the research house.

Another sector expected to be boosted was the tourism-related industry, it said, naming counters that would benefit as AirAsia Bhd as well as Shangri-La Hotels that owns three hotels on the island.

Malaysia Airlines, through its Penang-based budget airline Firefly, would also be expected to benefit.

However, OSK Investment Bank head of research Kenny Yee said there was more to NCER than “property and the Penang theme only.”

TA Securities concurred, taking a broader approach to investment strategy on the NCER led by Sime Darby Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) compared with the Eastern Corridor led by Petroliam Nasional Bhd.

In a report dated July 11, TA said details on the development plans for NCER were beginning to filter through.

It said: “One thing for certain is that the US$7bil Trans-Peninsula pipeline deal would be part and parcel of developing the northern region.”

Based on discussion with the management of Ranhill Bhd, the research house believed that viability of the pipeline would hinge on the supply of oil from the Middle East and also the demand coming from China.

Only when these two major obstacles had been cleared, would the US$7bil project take off, TA said.

Sime Darby has also indicated that it is looking to turn northern Malaysia into the country's main agriculture and food industry centres as well as establishing a “halal hub” there.

This was not surprising, given that the country's largest rice-producing state, Kedah, also known as Malaysia's “Rice Bowl”, was located in the Northern Corridor, said TA's report.

Sime Darby had estimated that more than RM50bil would be invested in the next 10 to 15 years.

Of this, 50% would go into infrastructure, including the double-tracking project, second Penang bridge, new highways and inland roads as well as integrated water management initiatives, such as irrigation and flood mitigation.

Sime Darby was also considering relocating part of its motor plant in Shah Alam to its Kulim facility, given the lower operational costs, said TA.

“Note that Naza group and state-owned motorcycle producer Modenas (Motosikal dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd) have their own plants in Gurun,” it said.

Perak would turn to cattle rearing as part of the concerted effort between Sime Darby, PNB, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd and Golden Hope Plantations Bhd, it said.

Meanwhile, Penang would become a strategic hub for domestic and international travel, particularly for the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand growth triangle.

Other developments included several initiatives by Sime Darby in Perlis for a seed cultivation and production centre in collaboration with a China-based group, TA said.

According to the research house, the total northern region allocation had increased by 14.2% to RM23.78bil under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) from RM20.8bil under the 8MP.

No New Airport And Port In NCER, Says Masterplanner

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- There will be no new airport or port in the northern region, says Sime Darby Bhd, the Northern Corridor Economic Region's (NCER) master planner.

"What we are doing is expanding the existing infrastructure," said Sime Darby Bhd's group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid in an interview with Bernama recently.

Conglomerate Sime Darby has been entrusted with drawing up the blueprint for the NCER which covers four states - Penang, Kedah, Perlis and north Perak.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to launch the multi-billion ringgit project on Monday.

"For example, Penang International Airport. Despite constraints, there is potential to expand the airport into the sea and extend the runway," he explained.

He said Sime Darby also saw the need to expand the airport "to develop bigger capacity for bigger planes."

Besides, he said, the airport should be expanding to serve as a cargo hub within the Indonesian-Malaysian-Thailand growth triangle.

"We will do this by lengthening the runway and also expanding the facilities," he said.

Citing an example, Ahmad Zubir said: "at Penang Airport, it is quite difficult to go to the air cargo area.

"It is very awkward when you have to cross. We are proposing to expand the present road to the cargo area so that it has a dual carriage way to allow better facility for air cargo."

After all, airport cargo has already reached its maximum capacity and the airport itself is overly dependent on the foreign transportation services, he said.

"The passenger (volume) is only about 2.8 million but the current facility cannot cope (with the demand)," he said.

In 2005, the airport handled 31,173 aircraft movements and 221,971 metric tonnes of cargo.

For Penang Port, Sime Darby is proposing a deeper container wharf and a larger container yard to cater for bigger capacity.

"Penang Port is already coming up to the brim as it is unable to cater for bigger vessels as it is reaching the capacity," he said.

The conglomerate sees the potential of Penang Port as a hub by utilising the large amount of goods that are coming from Thailand and north Sumatra.

"It is just like what we do in the south. We can do it here and it is ideally located because there is no other bigger port than Penang in the region. The next one is the Rangoon Port," he said.

"In Sumatra, there are not many big ports as Penang. So that huge potential we can expect at our port."

He suggested re-exporting agriculture products imported from Sumatra after processing them at the northern corridor.

Incentives could also be given to Thailand and Indonesia to make Penang as their port of choice, he added.

Ahmad Zubir pointed out that the current physical infrastructure is already comprehensively connected but what is needed is "upgrading them to have better connectivity."

"Penang Island itself is quite a mess now. We are looking at enhancing the internal transport linkages in order to improve the international linkages," he said.

By capitalising on the existing infrastructure, NCER will become a regional entry port, he said.

"We are only serving the local industrial estates but our facility is already at a maximum," he noted.

He acknowledged other plans already under the Ninth Malaysia Plan such as the expansion of the Penang Bridge, building of the second bridge and widening the coastal highway.

But, Sime Darby is also proposing the upgrading of the Jeli-Grik highway and a need for a railway link between Kota Baharu and Penang.

"It is to improve the transportation system and to connect the eastern and northern corridors in the future," said the group chief executive.

The Prime Minister has already announced the extension of the double-track rail project up to Padang Besar and the commuter train from Ipoh to Sungai Petani, he said.

NCER To Re-energise Tourist Attractions
Updated : 28-07-2007


KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- Re-energising tourist attractions is another solid initiative for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

"We are looking at high-yield tourism," said Sime Darby Bhd's group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid in an interview with Bernama recently.

Sime Darby is the master planner for the NCER which covers four states - Penang, Kedah, Perlis and north Perak.

The NCER blueprint is scheduled to be launched on Monday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"We felt that tourism has great potential up north as some 30 per cent of tourists visit the northern area," he said.

He said that by spurring the industry, it was hoped that the average visitor spending would increase to RM5,000 from the current RM1,800.

NCER is also aiming to increase the value of annual medical tourism spending and annual tourism expenditure.

The region is looking at medical annual expenditure tourism rising to about RM800 million from RM200 million.

"For tourism spending, we are looking at RM22 billion from RM9 billion," said Ahmad Zubir.

He acknowledged that there is a lot of potential in terms of tourist attractions in the region that could be value added.

"What we are having currently is not well publicised and mainly catering to domestic tourists up north," he added.

"Foreigners stay two to three days, after that they don't know what to do already. So what we are creating now is more focused."

He noted that "first and foremost" the coastal areas and rivers need to be cleaned up and "secondly, we need to create high end areas."

"When (Saudi Arabian billionaire) Prince Waleed (Bin Talal) bought the Four Seasons Hotel in Tanjung Rhu, his first statement was that Langkawi is much more beautiful than Bali," he noted.

Unfortunately, Ahmad Zubir said, most tourist attractions in the region have not been properly promoted.

Besides Langkawi, he said, there were a few big islands that could be converted into premium high-end resorts and bring in health tourism.

Pulau Jerejak and certain parts of Penang have been identified as another potential that could be developed into that, he said.

"People go for plastic as well as specialised surgery which make them stay longer. We could provide facilities such as wellness programmes," he said.

Ahmad Zubir pointed out that some tourist attractions "are really not up to the level" thus contibuting to poor visitor volume.

"I'm sure you have heard of some of the places but they are not the same as what it is written or perceived," he said.

"Accesibility is poor ... such as Pedu ... before, we had a hotel there but now this hotel has also closed due to lack of tourists.

"To go to Pedu takes longer than to go to Penang from Alor Setar. Unappealing attraction. Nothing there to attract people and poor marketing."

Leveraging on existing assets and enhancing them would be one of the solutions to bring the tourists in, he suggested.

New areas and towns would also need to be created to support the efforts "to make sure there is a place for people to go and stay longer."

The conglomerate has proposed that the private sector be given the "mandate" to fulfill these initiatives.

However, he said, government assistance was needed to help the initiatives becoming a reality.

"Help from the government is needed to encourage Malaysian doctors to come back to support the initiative of making some of the potential islands as medical hubs," he added.

"Here, we are having problems such as doctors who work in the United Kingdom are not recognised by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) although they are members of the British Medical Council.

"We want to fast track and allow these people to work in selective hospitals. We are not going against the MMC but we are saying at least allow these doctors to practise in certain specific medical centres."

Other areas that would be spurred are agro- and eco-tourism, and these include Lembah Bujang Heritage Park, Belum, Kuala Nerang and Grik, as these are not being fully marketed, said Ahmad Zubir.

"We are also looking at providing funding for start-up businesses for entrepreneurs involving handicraft. Currently, all (these products) are either Made in China or Made in Thailand. None of those handicraft are Malaysian.

"It is all (made) outside ... it's funny. We don't have our own handicraft. Even congkak and gasing are made in China."

Therefore, he stressed, local handicraft should be re-introduced.

PM lancar Koridor Utara hari ini
Oleh ROZILAN SALLEH

PULAU PINANG 29 Julai – Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi akan melancarkan pelan terperinci pembangunan sosioekonomi Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (Koridor Utara) di Alor Star, Kedah esok yang bakal menjadi antara teras utama agenda pembangunan kerajaan.

Pembangunan Koridor Utara di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (2006-2010) itu dirancang untuk mempromosikan pembangunan ekonomi kebangsaan yang seimbang dan saksama.

Ia juga memberi penekanan terhadap pembangunan luar bandar dan produktiviti pertanian di sebalik ketidaksamaan sosioekonomi di negara ini.

Tiga teras ekonomi utama iaitu pertanian, pembuatan dan perkhidmatan akan dibangunkan di wilayah ekonomi Koridor Utara dalam tempoh 20 tahun akan datang.

Pelancaran pelan terperinci Koridor Utara itu menjadi acara kemuncak lawatan dua hari Perdana Menteri ke negeri-negeri utara Semenanjung yang bermula esok di Kedah diikuti Perlis pada hari pertama dan kemudian Pulau Pinang dan Perak pada hari Selasa.

Selepas merasmikan pelan terperinci Koridor Utara, laman web dan logo Koridor Utara, Perdana Menteri dijadualkan melancarkan Program Pengurusan Estet Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda (MADA) di tempat yang sama.

Bagi Kedah, pelan Koridor Utara mencadangkan digiatkan pembangunan pelancongan antarabangsa dan kesihatan di Langkawi dan mentransformasikan Taman Teknologi Tinggi Kulim menjadi taman perindustrian utama.

Cadangan lain termasuk membina jalan pesisir pantai bagi membantu membangunkan usaha sama pertanian yang bukan sahaja difokuskan kepada tanaman padi tetapi juga akuakultur.

Turut diberi perhatian dalam perancangan pembangunan koridor itu ialah sistem perparitan dan pencegahan banjir dan kluster pelancongan di tanah besar.

Selepas Kedah, Abdullah kemudian akan mengunjungi Perlis yang turut mendapat manfaat dalam projek Koridor Utara.

Perdana Menteri antara lain akan menghuraikan cadangan pembinaan depoh kontena darat dan pembangunan bandar Padang Besar di sempadan Perlis.

Projek Koridor Utara di Perlis juga membabitkan pembangunan pusat penyelidikan Sime Darby untuk membangunkan penanaman biji benih serta kluster pengeluaran buah-buahan iklim.

Perdana Menteri akan merasmikan Pusat Pembangunan dan Penyelidikan Biji Benih yang bakal melengkapkan peranan Perlis dan Kedah sebagai pusat pengeluaran makanan utama negara menerusi penggunaan amalan pengurusan pertanian moden.

Di bawah rancangan kerajaan, Koridor Utara bakal menjadi zon makanan moden Malaysia yang antara lain bertujuan meningkatkan eksport pertanian dan mampu meningkatkan pendapatan serta tahap eksport negeri-negeri utara.

Tumpuan serius diberikan kepada sektor pertanian termasuk akuakultur, perikanan, penternakan haiwan, buah-buahan, sayur-sayuran dan herba.

Pada hari Selasa, Perdana Menteri akan membentangkan pelan menjadikan Pulau Pinang sebagai hab logistik antarabangsa di Butterworth serta melancarkan perkhidmatan bas awam RapidPenang.

Secara asasnya projek Koridor Utara di Pulau Pinang akan menumpukan kepada prasarana seperti memperbesarkan lapangan terbang dan mendalamkan pelabuhan, sistem pengangkutan awam bersepadu, pusat kecemerlangan elektronik mikro dan pembangunan bandar Pulau Pinang.

Koridor Utara akan memastikan sektor pembuatan menjadikan Pulau Pinang hab elektronik berteknologi tinggi. Ia juga merancang membangunkan tenaga kerja dan meningkatkan tahap nilai tokok sektor elektrik dan elektronik (E&E).

Dermaga kontena di pelabuhan Pulau Pinang pula akan diperdalamkan manakala di tanah besar pusat pemprosesan makanan akan dibangunkan untuk mengendalikan produk pertanian dari Kedah, Perlis dan bahagian utara Perak.

Selepas Pulau Pinang, Perdana Menteri akan ke Perak bagi mengakhiri lawatannya ke negeri-negeri utara.

Di Perak, beliau akan mengumumkan rancangan menjadikan Perak sebagai Pusat Pembangunan Modal Insan serta melancarkan pusat kecemerlangan kemahiran dan program Pintar anjuran Kementerian Pelajaran.

"When (Saudi Arabian billionaire) Prince Waleed (Bin Talal) bought the Four Seasons Hotel in Tanjung Rhu, his first statement was that Langkawi is much more beautiful than Bali," he noted.


what a st0o0opid joke!

This website might be of interest to everyone who is reading this thread.

NCER Website (http://www.ncer.com.my/en/index.html)

Highlights of the NCER

KUALA LUMPUR: These are some of highlights of the blueprint on the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Alor Setar, Kedah on Monday 30 July 2007:

* NCER to draw about RM177 billion in investments from 2007 to 2025, involving programmes and projects to enhance human capital, infrastructure, innovation and competitiveness.

* One-third of the sum will be spent by the government, while the remaining two-thirds will be undertaken through Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and private sector investment.

* The NCER is a government initiative to speed up economic growth and elevate income levels in Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

* Its main thrusts are to transform and expand the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors in the region.

* Sime Darby Bhd played key role in preparing the groundwork for the development blueprint, which will span from 2007 to 2025.

* A dedicated implementation organisation will beset up to coordinate and drive the implementation of the NCER initiative.

* NCER is aimed at becoming a modern food zone to help the country to increase its efficiency in food production.

* Phased approach will be adopted to achieve increased agricultural growth and improved rural incomes, beginning with anchor investors (2007-2012), accelerating regional growth (2013-2020) and establishing global leadership (2021-2025).

* By 2012, it targets to increase agricultural exports from RM32bil to RM48 billion; rice yields from 4 tonnes per ha to 8 tonnes per ha; average profit per ha of cultivated land (excluding oil palm) to RM10,000 per ha per year and the amount of agricultural land utilised from around 800,000ha to one million hectares.

* NCER to be the high-tech electronics hub of the region, expanding from the currently predominant assembly and test activities to higher value added activities including wafer fabrication, chip design, automation design and materials or packaging R&D.

* Key tourism assets such as Langkawi and Penang to be enhanced to attract higher yielding tourists, thereby increasing per capita tourist spending and the size of the tourism industry in the region.

* NCER aimed at increasing average spending per visitor from the current base of RM1,890 to RM3,034 by 2012, and to increase tourist receipts from RM9 bil to RM21 bil over the same period.

* To improve infrastructure, the Butterworth, Kulim, Grik, Jeli,Kota Baru roads will be widened, a monorail connecting Seberang Prai, Kulim, Sungai Petani.

* An inland commercial depot will be built in in Padang Besar, while the Penang International Airport and the Butterworth Container Port will be expanded.

* Penang and Langkawi airports to be promoted as hubs for budget carriers and small jets and the proposed double tracking project between Ipoh and Bukit Kayu Hitam will be implemented.

* There will also be an expansion of regional and international air links to bring more visitors to NCER and coastal vessel fleets, ferry services or tie-ups with regional ports in Sumatra, Phuket and Myanmar.

* In human capital development, vocational training for younger age groups will also be carried out with programmes targeting unemployed youths aged 15 and above, including graduates, with training programmes focused on matching supply with the demands of skills.

* An "Adopt a School" programme will be launched with the private sector initiatives, and the NCER implementation organisation will identify the number of disadvantaged schools in the region for the project.

* The implementation of the programmes under the NCER initiative targets to increase the region's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 306 percent from RM52.7 bil in 2005 to RM214.1 bil in 2025. This would correspondingly increase real GDP per capita from RM8,988 per year in 2005 to RM24,582 in 2025;

* Employment in the region is forecast to increase from 2.43 million in 2005 to 4.0 million in 2025.

A real big boost to Penang

RM177b worth of projects for NCER (updated, blueprint inc.) :happy:

PENANG: About RM177bil (US$50.6bil) worth of projects and programmes would be undertaken for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), of which two-thirds would be financed by the private sector.

These projects would transform and expand the agricultural, manufacturing, logistics and tourism sectors of the north, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday.

The Corridor covers the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak, home to 4.29 million people. The Government hopes to create 500,000 jobs by 2012 and one million jobs by 2018, Abdullah said.

The NCER initiative is to make the region a world-class economic region by 2025 for people to invest, live, work, learn, visit and bring up families in a safe, clean and sustainable environment.

It will also lead Malaysia towards a high-value, knowledge-driven economy.

The initiative will: * Maximise the economic potential of the region * Close its development, income, education and job opportunity gap between the region and other areas of the country * Bring about social equity in the region

The Prime Minister also unveiled the 122-page blueprint which covers the entire period of the NCER initiative from 2007 to 2025.

Highlights of the blueprint:

* NCER to draw about RM177 billion in investments from 2007 to 2025, involving programmes and projects to enhance human capital, infrastructure, innovation and competitiveness.

* One-third of the sum will be spent by the government, while the remaining two-thirds will be undertaken through Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and private sector investment.

* The NCER is a government initiative to speed up economic growth and elevate income levels in Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

* Its main thrusts are to transform and expand the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors in the region.

* Sime Darby Bhd played key role in preparing the groundwork for the development blueprint, which will span from 2007 to 2025.

* A dedicated implementation organisation will beset up to coordinate and drive the implementation of the NCER initiative.

* NCER is aimed at becoming a modern food zone to help the country to increase its efficiency in food production.

* Phased approach will be adopted to achieve increased agricultural growth and improved rural incomes, beginning with anchor investors (2007-2012), accelerating regional growth (2013-2020) and establishing global leadership (2021-2025).

* By 2012, it targets to increase agricultural exports from RM32bil to RM48 billion; rice yields from 4 tonnes per ha to 8 tonnes per ha; average profit per ha of cultivated land (excluding oil palm) to RM10,000 per ha per year and the amount of agricultural land utilised from around 800,000ha to one million hectares.

* NCER to be the high-tech electronics hub of the region, expanding from the currently predominant assembly and test activities to higher value added activities including wafer fabrication, chip design, automation design and materials or packaging R&D.

* Key tourism assets such as Langkawi and Penang to be enhanced to attract higher yielding tourists, thereby increasing per capita tourist spending and the size of the tourism industry in the region.

* NCER aimed at increasing average spending per visitor from the current base of RM1,890 to RM3,034 by 2012, and to increase tourist receipts from RM9 bil to RM21 bil over the same period.

* To improve infrastructure, the Butterworth, Kulim, Grik, Jeli,Kota Baru roads will be widened, a monorail connecting Seberang Prai, Kulim, Sungai Petani.

* An inland commercial depot will be built in in Padang Besar, while the Penang International Airport and the Butterworth Container Port will be expanded.

* Penang and Langkawi airports to be promoted as hubs for budget carriers and small jets and the proposed double tracking project between Ipoh and Bukit Kayu Hitam will be implemented.

* There will also be an expansion of regional and international air links to bring more visitors to NCER and coastal vessel fleets, ferry services or tie-ups with regional ports in Sumatra, Phuket and Myanmar.

* In human capital development, vocational training for younger age groups will also be carried out with programmes targeting unemployed youths aged 15 and above, including graduates, with training programmes focused on matching supply with the demands of skills.

* An "Adopt a School" programme will be launched with the private sector initiatives, and the NCER implementation organisation will identify the number of disadvantaged schools in the region for the project.

* The implementation of the programmes under the NCER initiative targets to increase the region's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 306 percent from RM52.7 bil in 2005 to RM214.1 bil in 2025. This would correspondingly increase real GDP per capita from RM8,988 per year in 2005 to RM24,582 in 2025;

* Employment in the region is forecast to increase from 2.43 million in 2005 to 4.0 million in 2025.

Malaysia sees RM177b investment in Northern Corridor :cheers:

Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

ALOR SETAR: Malaysia expects investment of RM177 billion in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to develop four northern states, the Prime Minister said on July 30.

"The government is finalising various incentive packages and they will be announced soon," Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at the launch.

"Several programmes that have been identified in the initial phase are estimated to involve additional costs of RM5 billion," he said, referring to costs in addition to the existing state development plan, the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Highlights of the NCER

About RM177 billion of public and private sector investments are expected to flow into the NCER from 2007 to 2025, involving programmes and projects to enhance human capital, infrastructure, innovation and competitiveness in the region;

* Of the total sum, one-third is expected to be spent by the government, while the balance will be undertaken through Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and private-sector investment.

* The NCER programme is a government initiative to accelerate economic growth and elevate income levels in the north of Peninsular Malaysia, covering Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak;

* Its key thrusts are to transform and expand the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors in the region;

* Sime Darby Bhd led in preparing the groundwork for the comprehensive development blueprint, which will span from 2007 to the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan period, i.e, 2025;

* Under the plan, a dedicated implementation organisation will be set up to coordinate and drive the implementation of the NCER initiative;

* It is envisaged that that NCER will become a modern food zone for Malaysia, helping the country to increase its efficiency in food production;

* A phased approach will be adopted to achieve the objective of increased agricultural growth and improved rural incomes, starting with courting anchor investors (2007-2012), accelerating regional growth (2013-2020) and establishing global leadership (2021-2025);

* By 2012, it targets to increase agricultural exports from RM32 billion to RM48 billion;paddy yields from 4 tonnes per hectare to 8 tonnes per hectare; average profit per hectare of cultivated land (excluding oil palm) to RM10,000 per hectare per annum; and the amount of agricultural land utilised from around 800,000 hectares to one million hectares;

* The NCER is envisioned as the high-tech electronics hub of the region, expanding from the currently predominant assembly and test activities to higher value-add activities including wafer fabrication, chip design, automation design and materials or packaging R&D.

* By 2012, it targets to increase investment in NCER's manufacturing sector from RM16.5 billion in 2006 to RM24.3 billion; increase the%age of the manufacturing sector workforce involved in high value-add activities to 30%; and increasing value-add as a%age of manufacturing output to 30%;

* Key tourism assets such as Langkawi and Penang will be enhanced to attract higher-yielding tourists, thereby increasing per capita tourist spending and the size of the tourism industry in the region;

* NCER targets to increase average spending per visitor from the current base of RM1,890 to RM3,034 by 2012, and to increase tourist receipts from RM9 billion to RM21 billion over the same period;

* Due to the focus on medical tourism, it is targeted that annual expenditure on medical tourism will exceed RM350 million by 2012;

* For the logistics services, it proposes that the NCER leverage on its strategic position within the IMT-GT and adjacent to the Eastern Corridor;

* To improve infrastructure, the Butterworth-Kulim-Grik-Jeli-Kota Baharu roads will be widened, a monorail connecting Seberang Prai, Kulim, Sungai Petani and an inland commercial depot in Padang Besar will be built, while the Penang International Airport as well as Butterworth Container Port will be expanded;

* Penang and Langkawi airports will be promoted as hubs for budget carriers and small jets and the proposed double tracking project between Ipoh and Bukit Kayu Hitam will be implemented;

* There will also be an expansion of regional and international air links to bring more visitors to NCER and coastal vessel fleets, ferry services or tie-ups with regional ports in Sumatra, Phuket and Myanmar;

* In human capital development, vocational training for younger age groups will also be carried out with programmes targeting unemployed youths aged 15 and above, including graduates, with training programmes focused on matching supply with the demands of skills;

* An "Adopt a School" programme will be launched with the private sector initiatives, and the NCER implementation organisation will identify the number of disadvantaged schools in the region for the project;

* The implementation of the programmes under the NCER initiative targets to increase the region's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 306% from RM52.7 billion in 2005 to RM214.1 billion in 2025. This would correspondingly increase real GDP per capita from RM8,988 per annum in 2005 to RM24,582 in 2025;

* Employment in the region is forecast to increase from 2.43 million in 2005 to 4 million in 2025. - Agencies

Penang boost for MRCB with NCER launch

Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is at the forefront to secure infrastructure projects in Penang with the implementation of the Butterworth Transport Terminal, monorail, airport and the outer ring road over the next six to 12 months, said AmResearch Sdn Bhd.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is set to launch the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) today, which focuses on boosting the economies of Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis.

Penang will also be earmarked as the transport hub for the NCER. The government is expected to fast-track several projects to achieve the objective of easing transport bottlenecks in that region.

“We believe MRCB is likely to be involved in one of them. High on MRCB’s secure list is the Butterworth Terminal, of which Phase 1 is certain to be announced during the NCER launch,” it said.

MRCB has made a firm bid to undertake the Penang Monorail project, the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and it has been linked to the proposed international new airport. The status of the projects is expected to be known latest by early 2008.

In June, MRCB secured a RM500 million turnkey development contract from Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputera Bhd (PHBB) to develop residential units ranging from high-end apartments and landed units to affordable housing in Penang Island.

“We see the PHBB tie-up as a positive step for MRCB’s Penang thrust. Furthermore, PHBB is the project manager for the redevelopment of the Butterworth Transport Terminal, a project MRCB is keenly eyeing.


Butterworth Terminal

The Butterworth Transport Terminal would be modelled after the KL Sentral. Phase 1 costing RM100 million, including redeveloping the bus terminal. Work will start end-2007. PHBB has been appointed to redevelop the project on a fast-track basis.

“We understand that MRCB is the only contender for the project, in which it will most likely secure from PHBB. According to our source, the Phase 1 award is likely to be announced during the NCER launch,” it said.

The Butterworth Terminal will eventually be extended to handle other modes of transportation, i.e. bus, rail, taxi and ferry target date for completion will be 2010. MRCB is said to be negotiating to undertake the entire project which includes a hotel, office lots, a shopping centre and apartments.

Conservatively, AmResearch estimates the project could add seven sen to MRCB’s net asset value (NAV) and 6% to FY08F net profit.


Penang Monorail

MRCB believes its chances of securing the Monorail project is good, given its resume of constructing and managing the KL Sentral. Further advantage is having Scomi Group (which owns the KL Monorail) and Penang Port (a local Penang company) as MRCB’s consortium partners.

“MRCB is likely to focus only on the turnkey construction portion. We estimate a pre-tax profit margin of 8%-10% for the construction. Assuming a fast- track construction period of three years to complete, the monorail project could add 11% to 12% to FY08F earnings,” it said.


Penang Outer Ring Road

Work on the RM1 billion PORR is expected to begin in April 2008, after the concession’s shareholding structure has been finalised. The 17.2km PORR project will be fully financed by and has the full support of Australia’s Macquarie Bank, Bank Pembangunan and Affin Bank.

The project involves the right to develop 202ha of reclaimed land at Gurney Drive. MRCB, MMC and Gamuda were reported to have submitted bids to undertake the construction of the PORR.


Proposed new airport in Penang in Batu Kawan

Recently, there were news reports a new international airport in Penang was mooted by Equine Capital. Equine is said to have proposed to build the airport at Batu Kawan at a cost of RM1.2 billion, and in return will take over the existing airport land in Bayan Lepas.

AmResearch said the reports stated MRCB would be the contractor.


Bakun cable transmission

“Based on our recent discussions with MRCB’s management, the Bakun transmission cable project has to commence construction latest, by early 2008, if the power is to come online as scheduled in 2012,” it said.

The project could take up to five years to complete, which includes manufacturing the 1,400km cable. The Bakun dam will have installed capacity of 2,400MW of power and is estimated to cost RM9.5 billion.

MRCB is the largest overhead transmission company in Malaysia and has had extensive experience in working with Tenaga Nasional Bhd. It has an outstanding order book of RM408 million with Tenaga.

Based on pre-tax profit margin of 10%, the research house estimated the Bakun project could add about 15% to FY08F net profit and 14 sen to MRCB’s NAV.


Raising NAV and target price

AmResearch revised its NAV estimate to RM4.01. It had also applied a higher value for MRCB’s construction business. With an outstanding orderbook of RM2.5 billion and rising, it believes that its valuation of RM793 million is fair.

It had also calculated the impact on earnings and NAV of several projects which MRCB tendered for — Butterworth Terminal, Penang Monorail and Bakun.

“Using a pre-tax margin of 10% and WACC of 9%, these three projects could contribute between 5 and 14 sen each to MRCB’s NAV.

“We raised our target price from RM3.30 to RM3.80 derived by ascribing a 5% discount to NAV. The discount to NAV is justified, given the potential for MRCB to enhance its value in the coming few months,” it said.

yahoo :happy:

NCER Blueprint by Sime Darby really suck! :nono: :nono: :nono:

Khazanah done better than Sime Darby.

i agree, they should done better:bash:

i agree, they should done better:bash:

you means like lauching a new city similiar to Nusajaya?

As i can see in this NCER, emphasis is given more on agriculture compared to IDR....

Not a bad thing, NCER alone encompasses 4 states, and has higher rural population ratio, agriculture can be used as a mean to combat rural poverty and so.....

Developing agricultural sector can help alleviate food trade deficit too...

Malaysia unveils $51.2 billion plan to boost northern development
Updated : 30-07-2007
Media : Kyodo News


(Kyodo) _ Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled Monday an ambitious 177 billion ringgit ($51.2 billion) economic blueprint to boost development in the country's four northern states.

As speculation swirls over an early election, possibly during the first quarter of next year, Abdullah began a two-day whirlwind tour earlier the day to the Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak states to promote what is known as the Northern Corridor Economic Region.

In his first stop in Kedah to officially announce the plan, an event carried live on national television, he spoke of inventing a "new identity that will bring new life" to the region where 46 percent of Malaysia's poorer citizens live.

"It is estimated that the Northern Corridor initiative will need an investment of around 177 billion ringgit between now and 2025. One-third of that will come from the government while two-thirds will be pumped in by private investors," Abdullah said.

"Incentive packages are being finalized and will be announced soon," he added.

The plan, formulated by state-linked conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd., focuses on expanding the agricultural, manufacturing, logistics and tourism sectors.

Except for the island of Penang, which is more affluent and has a thriving electronics industry, the other states are better known for paddy fields where the average income of a farmer is around 500 ringgit a month.

The northern region, which borders conflict-riddled southern Thailand, is also home to Malay Muslims who form the core support for Abdullah's ruling party, the United Malays National Organization.

Although a general election is not due until April 2009, already political pundits are betting on a snap poll.

A columnist in the Star daily viewed the launch of the Northern Corridor Economic Region as yet another indicator of an early election.

"From modern agricultural practices involving harvesting paddy three times a year to the construction of Penang's second bridge, the projects are expected to fire up voters in these four states," Wong Chun Wai of the Star said in a recent article.

Whether it was to make a political mark or not, it is undeniable the region is in dire need of attention.

In 2004, Kedah and Perlis recorded the highest poverty levels of 7 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, while the national average was 5.7 percent.

And the average monthly household income in the northern region, with a population of 4.29 million, was 2,477 ringgit against the national average of 3,249 ringgit.

The plan aims to increase the region's real gross domestic product from 52.7 billion ringgit in 2005 to 214.1 billion ringgit in 2025.

Some 500,000 jobs would be created by 2012 and 1 million jobs by 2018.

Langkawi Island, a resort off Kedah, and Penang have been earmarked for tourism and medical tourism.

And efforts would be strengthened to draw investments to Penang, Kedah and Perak, which already have electronics and electrical facilities and manufacturing centers.

Perlis, Malaysia's smallest state, has been identified for the seed culture industry.

Earlier, the government announced some mega-projects for the region, including the construction of Southeast Asia's longest bridge linking Penang Island to the mainland.

In Kedah, there is a plan for $16 billion in oil refineries and pipeline projects.

The Northern Corridor Economic Region is the second development blueprint Abdullah had launched, after the Iskandar Development Region in southern Johor State, which Abdullah hopes will tap into its ties with neighboring Singapore to boost growth.

Still in the works is another plan for the three eastern states Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang known as the Eastern Corridor.

NCER To Transform Northern Region Into Modern Food Zone
Updated : 30-07-2007


KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Bernama) -- The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) is set to transform the region into a modern food zone for Malaysia, thus improving the contribution of the agriculture sector to economic growth.

The NCER blueprint has classified 40 percent or 932,581 ha in the northern region (4.9 percent in Penang, 6.6 percent in Perlis, 27.8 percent in Perak and 60.7 percent in Kedah), for agriculture use. These include 100,000 ha of idle land.

Of this, 595,615 ha will be for the cultivation of padi, sugar cane, oil palm and rubber. The 167,598 ha for padi will account for 64 percent of the total padi cultivation areas in Peninsular Malaysia.

The NCER blueprint's three main strategies for agriculture include increasing its contribution to the Northern Corridor's GDP from 12 percent currently to 15 percent in 2012.

Another is to increase exports of agricultural products, with both upstream and downstream activities being promoted to enable the NCER to export around RM48 billion worth of agricultural produce by 2012.

The third is to raise the rural income level through programmes that diversify sources of income from existing land, and improve land productivity and agriculture value-added.

There are three strategic thrusts -- promoting commercial farming in partnership with local communities, crop specialisation and introduction of world-class agricultural technology.

According to the blueprint, a phased approach will be adopted to achieve the objective of increased agricultural growth and improved rural incomes, starting with courting anchor investors (2007-2012), accelerating regional growth (2013-2020) and establishing global leadership (2021-2025).

Seven immediate implementation programmes have been identified -- common management of land to achieve economies of scale, re-designation of unused industrial land for agriculture, strengthening infrastructure, provision of funding and incentives, establishment of a Seeds R&D Centre, global branding, and strengthening human capital.

These programmes will be complemented by specific sub-sector initiatives focusing, among others, on padi, aquaculture and livestock farming.

The productivity of the padi sector will be improved from the current 3-5 tonnes per ha to around eight tonnes by 2012 and 9-10 tonnes by 2020.

This will be possible after undertaking specific initiatives such as producing high-yielding seed germplasm for padi at the Seeds R&D Centre, expanding the number of certified farmers and gazetting core granaries to protect padi fields from being used for non-profit purposes.

Among initiatives to promote fisheries and aquaculture are a national hatchery centre in Kedah specialising in breeding premium fish fry for either food or ornamental purposes, encouraging the setting up of a deep-sea fishing industry together with a fish processing plant in Kuala Perlis, and zoning selected coastal areas for rearing of fish and shellfish in cages.

Using the National Feedlot Centre in Gemas as the "nucleus" and breeding source for young calves is among the specific initiatives to promote livestock farming apart from creating halal processing centres in Sungai Petani, Tasik Gelugor and Padang Besar, specialising in processed meat products for export as well as converting under-utilised industrial estates into premium livestock parks.

For herbs, horticulture and premium speciality food products, niche areas for the farming of premium crops with controlled and sterilised environments will be developed.

About 390,000 ha of NCER land are under oil palm plantation companies, while around 20,000 ha are rubber smallholdings.

Among the specific initiatives to improve the commercial crops are encouraging the Federal Land Development Authority and plantation companies to disseminate modern agronomic practices and introducing mixed farming methods within oil palm and rubber estates to increase income levels.

http://www.thestar.com.my/archives/2007/7/31/nation/n_pg01corridor.jpg

Northern growth: Abdullah launching the Northern Corridor Economic Region
at the Mada headquarters in Alor Star yesterday. Applauding (from left) are
Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid,
Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Perak
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali. —
MUSTAFA AHMAD / The Star

NCER To Have Five Growth Corridors
Updated : 30-07-2007


KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Five growth corridors will be created within the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Alor Setar, Kedah here Monday.

They are the island corridor, coastal corridor, central corridor, hinterland corridor and Butterworth-Kulim-Baling-Pengkalan Hulu Grik corridor, according to the NCER blueprint which will cover Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

ISLAND CORRIDOR

* Comprising Langkawi and Pulau Pinang, this corridor will focus on premier tourism activities and distributive services by virtue of their international airports and sea ports.

* Media services will be promoted, leveraging on their air connectivity to the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle and other parts of the world.

* Pulau Pinang retains its education services base and its electric and electronics (E&E) manufacturing activities. The island, together with Seberang Prai remains the primary logistics driver of the NCER.

* Port and road improvements, airport expansion and the construction of the Pulau Pinang Second Link will help facilitate improved services to and from the mainland.

COASTAL CORRIDOR

* The northernmost tip of the Coastal Corridor is the Padang Besar gateway to southern Thailand. In Kangar, education services are the major activity with links to Arau and Sintok.

* The towns of Kuala Kedah and Kuala Muda will focus on fisheries, in particular deep-sea fishing and marine food processing activities.

* Coastal tourism and marine aquaculture activities will feature along the smaller fishing villages and towns.

* Yan is designated as the petrochemical complex for the NCER. Initial plans are to build a petroleum refinery and storage facilities in the area.

* Going south, Butterworth features as the major shipping logistics gateway to the NCER. The Coastal Corridor extends through Nibong Tebal, Simpang Empat and Bagan Serai which are predominantly agriculture-based centres.

CENTRAL CORRIDOR

* The main feature of the corridor is section of the North-South Expressway (NSE) that from Ipoh in the south to Bukit Kayu Hitam in the north which is a town that shares a border with southern Thailand.

* The predominant activity will be the manufacturing corridor from Butterworth/Kulim to Gurun.

* The E&E sub-sector and automotive assembly remain the major manufacturing activities in this zone.

* Kamunting is another manufacturing cluster mainly for SME businesses involved in supplying to the large E&E companies or downstream agribusinesses.

* The corridor is expected to be strengthened with the proposed double-tracking rail project and commuter train services, as well as the expansion and de-bottlenecking of road networks to the ports and airports.

* Agriculture will be the major activity to be promoted around the NSE particularly towards the hinterland.

Under-utilised industrial estates will be converted into specialised agriculture parks for premium products such as the production of ornamental fish, floriculture, certified seed production and food processing clusters.

HINTERLAND CORRIDOR

* This starts from Kota Putra and ends in Kuala Kangsar. The predominant activity is agriculture, ranging from commercial crops (rubber and oil palm) to fruit orchards and animal husbandry.

* This corridor will host the envisaged food production zones in view of its predominant agriculture landscape.

* A large part of this area is natural forest, which is critical for the NCER freshwater catchment requirements. This area will be preserved and promoted as an eco-tourism attraction.

* The hinterland corridor hosts a second gateway to southern Thailand, namely Pengkalan Hulu.

* Tourism activities will also be promoted here, along the highlands and at Pedu Lake. This will be strengthened with the straightening, expansion and building of the Trans-Kedah Hinterland highway.

* The expansion of the Grik-Jeli Link is another strategically important milestone for trade expansion with Kelantan and the Eastern Corridor.

It is envisaged that the road link will be initially upgraded, followed by the construction of a new rail link once goods and services traffic increases.

BUTTERWORTH-KULIM-BALING-PENGKALAN HULU GRIK CORRIDOR

* This corridor connects the Butterworth logistics hub to the main industrial cluster in Kulim.

* Major east-west roads along this corridor will be upgraded to improve east-west connectivity.

*In the longer term, this corridor is expected to play a major role in opening up Kelantan and the Eastern Corridor via the strengthening of the Grik-Jeli road and/or construction of a railway link.

Abdullah Launches NCER Website
Updated : 30-07-2007


ALOR STAR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Monday launched the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) website, www.ncer.com.my.

The website contains information on the NCER socio-economic blueprint that encompasses four northern states of Peninsular Malaysia.

Abdullah, in his opening address said the website also provided information on the NCER's agriculture, tourism, logistics, environmental, manufacturing and human capital development framework.

The NCER is a government initiative to spur development and increase income levels of the people in Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

Abdullah also touched on the NCER concept which he said, would not replace the role of the state governments involved but instead provided a plan of action that would help speed up the overall developmenbt of these states and narrow their rural-urban gaps.

Earlier, when launching the NCER, Abdullah presented a copy of the blueprint each to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Perak Menteri Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali and Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

The launching was done together with the four state leaders who placed their respective state emblem on a white board followed by Abdullah placing the Malaysian emblem.

Abdullah then spent about 30 minutes visiting the stalls and exhibition on Kedah's development before leaving for Perlis to launch the NCER there.

He will launch the NCER programme in Penang and Perak tomorrow.

PM Unveils NCER Blueprint For Penang, Perak
July 31, 2007 09:21 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- After Kedah and Perlis, the focus of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's visit Tuesday will be unveiling plans to boost growth for Penang and northern Perak.

He will kick off his two-day visit with the launching of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) blueprint for Penang, which has been designated as a regional logistics hub.

The event to be held in Butterworth will be aired live over RTM.

Abdullah will also launch the new RapidPenang bus service.

Under the NCER, the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas and the Butterworth Container Port will be expanded.

Next and final stop will be in Perak where the premier will announce plans to turn Perak into a human capital development centre. Here, he will launch a centre of skills excellence and the Education Ministry's Pintar programme.

At the launch of the NCER blueprint in Alor Star Monday, Abdullah announced, among others, that the development plan was expected to attract RM177 billion worth of public and private sector investments from 2007 to 2025.

Abdullah, who is also Finance Minister, said in the initial phase, the government would provide RM5 billion on top of existing allocations for identified NCER programmes.

Sime Darby Bhd has been tasked with drawing up the masterplan which covers four Malaysia Plans from 2007 to 2025.

The masterplan is aimed at transforming and expanding the agricultural, manufacturing, logistics and tourism sectors in the north, encompassing Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

-- BERNAMA

Perlis To Shine Like Diamond, Says Shahidan
July 30, 2007 23:26 PM

KANGAR, June 30 (Bernama) -- Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim today took up the challenge by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to make the state "shine like a diamond" as the seedling hub of the country.

"We will begin the transformation tomorrow and the results can be expected in a month," he told Bernama when asked to comment on the prime minister's challenge to him to make Perlis a leader in the production of quality seedlings.

Earlier, when launching the state-level Northern Corridor Economic Region here, Abdullah quipped: "The state that you lead may be small but make it shine like a diamond".

Perlis is to be made a research and development (R&D) centre focusing on efforts to produce quality seedlings under the NCER.

To this end, Shahidan said, an entity to be called either the Perlis Seedling Corporation or Perlis-Sime Darby Seedling Corporation would be set up.

He said the state government would discuss with Sime Darby on the marketing and research aspects of the project.

"Perlis is capable of becoming a leading producer of seedlings and we would begin with the production of grape seedlings as we have successfully planted grapes on an 80ha site in Sungai Batu Pahat near here since 2005," he said.

He said the grape plantation could now produce its own seedlings for sale.

-- BERNAMA

Medical tourism push for Penang and Langkawi
Tuesday July 31, 2007
TheStar


ALOR STAR: Penang and Langkawi will be promoted as premier destinations for medical tourism in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Penang, already in the forefront of Malaysia’s medical tourism industry, will be further promoted as a regional medical tourism hub in Asia.

Sime Darby Bhd, which carried out a feasibility study on socio-economic development in the region, proposed that the medical tourism activities be extended to Langkawi in view of space constraints in Penang.

Langkawi could complement the medical tourism industry in Penang by offering complementary medicine, traditional therapies and spa treatments.

Sime Darby Energy & Northern Corridor divisional director Datuk Mohd Shukri Baharom said the strategy was to position Penang as the preferred destination for foreigners seeking affordable cosmetic and elective surgery, and expand the services to Langkawi in view of scarcity of land in Penang to build new facilities.

Medical tourists could undergo surgical treatment in state-of-the-art facilities, and enjoy peaceful recuperation in complete anonymity in world-class resorts and health spas, he said.

“There is a growing trend in the popularity of traditional medicine for convalescent and recuperative purposes among Westerners, especially French and Germans,” he said, adding that the global market for traditional therapies was estimated at US$60bil (RM228bil).

OMG!! :eek2: ade tengok rendering butterworh sentral x ? seriously.. it so fucking awesome :banana:

Faster post it here!!! (I overseas cant see local newspaper lol)

it just an artist impression, don't get too excited hehehe

OMG!! :eek2: ade tengok rendering butterworh sentral x ? seriously.. it so fucking awesome :banana:

Really? show us lar.:banana:

Source : http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/31/business/20070731170957&sec=business

Penang to have integrated transport hub

By ANTHONY TAN

BUTTERWORTH: The RM2bil transportation hub in Butterworth, which will be known as Penang Sentral, will cover an area of 557,418 sq metres (six million square feet), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He said the hub, a component project of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), would be undertaken by a joint-venture between Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Bhd.

"This project will involve the construction of a transportation and logistics hub which integrates rail, ferry, monorail and land transport," he said when launching Penang state-level’s NCER here on Tuesday.

Abdullah, who watched a live crossover of the project’s ground-breaking and launched the Rapid Penang public bus service at the event, said Penang Sentral would also have commercial, retail and residential development.

He believed the project would transform Butterworth into a more modern and metropolitan area.

The hub, which would be modelled after the successful KL Sentral project in Kuala Lumpur, would have an estimated gross development value in excess of RM2bil.

It would have two ferry platforms, two monorail platforms, four train platforms, 50 bus platform and 4,000 parking bays.

Some 200,000 passengers are expected to use the hub daily when it is completed.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said Penang Sentral would be implemented in sub phases.

An MRCB official said the company hoped to implement the first phase of the project next year for completion in 2010. The phase involved the construction of a RM100mil integrated transport terminal which will also have commercial outlets.

For the time being, a RM5mil temporary Butterworth bus terminal will be built to replace the one destroyed by fire in May 2001.

The MRCB official said there would be 29 bus bays and 49 taxi bays in the temporary terminal which will be built using the "open shade concept."

OSK Property sees pick-up in business in 2H



KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Property Holdings Bhd expects its property business to improve in the second half of this year, compared with the first half which saw lower construction activities and the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities.

Its executive director Tan Boon Chuan said the company “should be making better returns in the second half” as “things will pick up very fast” in light of its existing and new property development projects, situated mainly in Sungai Petani, Sungai Buloh and Seremban.

He told reporters after the company’s EGM yesterday that its mixed development project in Sungai Petani, with different parcels being launched every year, would stand to benefit significantly as it was located within the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

At the EGM, its shareholders approved its proposed renounceable rights issue of up to 149.99 million shares at RM1 share, which is expected to raise between RM95.5 million and RM150 million.

He said the proceeds would be used for the group’s working capital for projects coming on-stream and for the redemption of its first tranche of Islamic debt securities due on April 6, 2008.

He said the company’s five major mixed and residential development in Sungai Petani, Sungai Buloh, Seremban and Kajang entailed a land area totalling 586.4ha with an estimated total gross development value (GDV) of RM2.8 billion.

Its Bandar Puteri Jaya township in Sungai Petani, which spans across some 520ha with RM2.1 billion in GDV, is a mixed development project comprising commercial and residential properties.

He said the project was in its third phase where a hypermarket and over 5,000 units of single-storey and double-storey semi-detached and terrace houses were completed last month.

Tan said a primary and secondary school, under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, had been scheduled for launch by the government this year.

On another matter, he said OSK Property had on July 1, completed its acquisition of Atria Shopping Centre and the surrounding 2.18ha of freehold land from Atria Properties Sdn Bhd for RM75 million.

He said the company was drawing up the development design for submission to the authorities, and it hoped to obtain approval in the later part of this year.

Tan said its development strategy for Klang Valley was to have “niche and small-to-medium size” developments as land was scarce and expensive, while “townships” would be planned in other parts of the country.

Four NCER states set to work in tandem


ALOR STAR: Perlis will provide the world’s best seeds, farmers in Kedah and northern Perak will plant them and breed livestock, and Penang will distribute the finished products.

That, in a nutshell, is how the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) will work.

Launched here yesterday in an elaborate ceremony by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the four states will function as one unit to not only become the country’s food provider but also make the country a net exporter.

Northern growth: Abdullah launching the Northern Corridor Economic Region at the Mada headquarters in Alor Star yesterday. Applauding (from left) are Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali. — MUSTAFA AHMAD / The Star
Abdullah, in his speech, pointed out that there was a noble reason behind the programme and its workings as well as targets.

“We need to achieve balanced development in our country and we find we need to refocus in the north.

“We are not doing something new but just doing it differently by value-adding,” he said, adding that the corridor initiative would span five Malaysia plans.

The prime minister said there was also a need to improve the infrastructure in order to enhance existing economic sectors and for value-adding to succeed.

Besides the setting-up of a seed centre which will encompass research and development as well as growing high-quality seeds, Perlis would also see an inland container depot being built and the setting-up of a climatic fruit cluster to take advantage of its geographical position.

For Kedah, where most of the foodstuff will be grown, there will be the setting-up of padi estates, improvements to its antiquated irrigation system and the establishment of a halal hub in Sungai Petani.

For Perak (where the NCER covers only its four north-most districts), the Royal Belum Forest will act as the region’s herbal plain for bio-prospecting and the setting-up of several human capital training centres.

Penang will see its existing infrastructure of ports, airports, rail connection and roads expanded in order to achieve its role as the region’s integrated distribution hub.

All four states will also see new highways or expansion of existing ones.

OMG!! :eek2: ade tengok rendering butterworh sentral x ? seriously.. it so fucking awesome :banana:

Show us the picture pls:banana:

RM18b Penang Global City Centre to be completed in 15 years

BUTTERWORTH: The RM18bil Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project will take 15 years to complete.

The PGCC project is by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Equine Capital Bhd.

Equine holds a 25% stake in Abad Naluri, which is developing PGCC on the 260-acre site where the Penang Turf Club is presently located.

The PGCC is one of the projects highlighted in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) blueprint.

Equine executive chairman Datuk Patrick Lim said two award-winning architects, one each from New York and Paris, would design the PGCC project.

"Hani Rashid from Asymptote Architecture in New York will design the architecture, which includes two iconic towers, while Nasrine Seraji from Atelier Seraji in Paris will design the master plan," he told reporters after the launch of the NCER Penang portion blueprint by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday.

Lim said the PGCC master plan would be unveiled in September while the project would be launched in eight to 12 months.

The first phase would involve the development of a 26-acre park, and road infrastructure to smoothen the traffic flow for the project, he said.

"The park will be connected to the Botanical Garden. We will use the necessary technologies, such as thermal treatment, to develop PGCC into a carbon-free city," he said.

Lim said the PGCC project would have two five-star hotels, commercial and residential properties, and a state-of-the-art cultural centre.

Lim said there were many options to fund the project, including joint ventures and issuing capital bonds.

"We are also applying to obtain MSC-status to attract information and communications technology companies to set up regional offices at the park," he said.

On the Penang International Equestrian Centre in Batu Kawan, Lim said Abad Naluri would start work on the centre once construction work commenced on the second Penang bridge.

Emkay to develop RM600m eco tourism destination

The Emkay group of companies will be developing a RM600mil world-class eco-tourism destination in Pulau Banding.

The group said in a statement it would develop the island as the gateway to the 130-million-year-old Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, which comprises the Royal Belum State Park, Belum Forest Reserve and Temengor Forest Reserve.

The group had on July 18 entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Kumpulan Fima Bhd to acquire another 294 acres in Pulau Banding for RM15.8mil, and now owned the entire 600-acre Pulau Banding, which lies within the Northern Corridor Economic Region.

It said the project would generate tourism income, jobs and business opportunities for the local community.

The project, which was scheduled for completion in 10 to 15 years, would also see extensive research being generated in the rainforest, harnessing its worth through various opportunities in the fields of biotechnology and pharmacology.

The first of the three-phase development would involve immediate refurbishment of the existing Banding Island Resort.

The 27-room resort would be turned into a three-star resort with 120 rooms, complete with dining and meeting facilities.

Also to be developed are a rest and recreation centre, and a research centre donated by Yayasan Emkay for the use of non-governmental organisations or other interested parties keen to use the facilities to further their ongoing research into the Royal Belum and its surrounding rainforest.

The second and third phases would see homestead land parcels being offered to corporate entities, individual and foreign investors and the establishment of a five-star boutique resort.

http://www.thestar.com.my/archives/2007/8/1/nation/n_04badawi.jpg

Penang Sentral integrated transport hub

The RM2bil modern transportation and logistics hub will be built on the site of the Butterworth ferry terminal, railway station and former bus terminal which burnt down in May 2001.

The project, which aims to transform Butterworth into a modern metropolitan area, covers 557,418 square metres and will replace the current Butterworth ferry terminal and railway station.

The hub will integrate rail, ferry, monorail and land transport modes.

The project will be developed by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Bhd.

The first phase, involving the integrated transport and commercial outlets, is expected to take off next year and be completed in 2010.

In the interim, a RM5mil temporary bus terminal will be built at the site.

Penang to undergo transformation into major logistics, transportation hub
TheStar 1 August 2007


BUTTERWORTH: The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) project will see the transformation of Penang into a modern, vibrant city and a major logistics and transportation hub.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who unveiled a list of projects for the state under the NCER initiative here yesterday, said they would turn Penang into the “Gateway to the Northern Corridor”.

With price tags reaching billions, the projects are not only concentrated on the eastern portion of the island but also in the more rural south-west district and in Seberang Prai.

Here is a summary of the projects:


Penang Sentral integrated transport hub

The RM2bil modern transportation and logistics hub will be built on the site of the Butterworth ferry terminal, railway station and former bus terminal which burnt down in May 2001.

The project, which aims to transform Butterworth into a modern metropolitan area, covers 557,418 square metres and will replace the current Butterworth ferry terminal and railway station.

The hub will integrate rail, ferry, monorail and land transport modes.

The project will be developed by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Bhd.

The first phase, involving the integrated transport and commercial outlets, is expected to take off next year and be completed in 2010.

In the interim, a RM5mil temporary bus terminal will be built at the site.


Penang Global City Centre

The project will transform the site where the Penang Turf Club now stands in Bukit Gantung, George Town. It will be a modern city centre tailored for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

Besides an international exhibition and conference centre, the RM18bil project will also have shopping complexes, two five-star hotels, commercial and residential properties, a state-of-the-art cultural centre and a 10.5ha park.

The project, which will occupy a 105ha site, is being developed by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Equine Capital Bhd, and will take 15 years to complete.

The project is expected to create 5,000 construction jobs.


Second Penang Bridge

Announced earlier, the RM2.7bil second link between the mainland and Penang will be 23km long and link Batu Kawan in Seberang Prai with Batu Maung on the south-eastern corner of the island.

Construction of the longest bridge in South-East Asia is expected to start in November and be completed in 2011.

It will be built under a joint-venture between UEM Builders Bhd and China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd.

China will provide a US$800mil (RM2.8bil) loan to the project, the largest amount given by China for a single project in a foreign country.


Pulau Jerejak premier medical tourism centre

The 362ha island off the east coast of Penang island will be developed into a premier medical tourism centre in the region.

This is part of efforts to enhance Penang's strength in medical tourism.

Suitable incentive packages will be provided to develop the medical tourism industry to make it an engine of growth in the NCER.


Penang-Butterworth fast ferry

A fast ferry service will be introduced for pedestrians and motorcycles next year as an addition to the present Penang ferry service. The ferry terminals at Butterworth and on the island will be upgraded.


Penang Port expansion

Penang Port will be promoted as the leading port of the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

Facilities at the port will be upgraded so that it will be able to handle more containers and bigger container ships.


Bayan Lepas Airport expansion

The Bayan Lepas Airport will be made the premier air cargo hub in the IMT-GT and will handle high-quality perishable food items.

A new passenger and cargo terminal and additional runways will be built to cater for increasing air traffic.


Penang Monorail

The monorail network will span a total of 37km. It will reduce traffic congestion on the island and in Seberang Prai.


Swettenham Pier redevelopment

Swettenham Pier in George Town will be redeveloped into a new public transport system and commercial hub.


Micro-Electronics Centre of Excellence
The centre will be built at the Universiti Sains Malaysia campus under a public-private partnership.

It will be used to increase the capability of local workers to shift from low-level manufacturing and assembling activities to value-added high technology activities such as the design of electronic, robotic and silicon items.


Hospitality college

A college for hospitality studies will be built in Balik Pulau. A hotel will also be built there to provide practical training for its students.


Khazanah Nasional Bhd regional office

Khazanah has opened its northern regional office in Penang to facilitate investments by government-linked and private-sector companies in the NCER.

After IDR, this is another metropolis in the making! :banana:

NORTHERN CORRIDOR ECONOMIC REGION: Penang on fast track to lead Northern Corridor

http://www.nst.com.my/Wednesday/Frontpage/20070801074105/insidepix1
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (left) and Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (second from left) looking at a model of Penang’s development under the Northern Corridor Economic Region in Butterworth yesterday.

BUTTERWORTH: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday declared Penang as the logistics and transportation hub for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).
The prime minister said several major projects would be carried out, including the expansion of Penang Port and the Penang International Airport as well as the RM2 billion integrated terminal for rail, road and sea travel known as "Penang Sentral".

Although the state already possesses good logistics, such as ready access to the North-South Expressway, the Penang Bridge, a deep-water port and an international airport, Abdullah said the various projects were necessary in anticipation of an increase in economic activities within the NCER.

"With the many projects taking shape, Penang will serve as the gateway to the Northern Corridor.

"Also, with the increase in sophisticated logistics capabilities, the state will strengthen its position as the best logistics and transportation hub for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)," he said after the launching ceremony of the NCER’s Penang package here.
Present were Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Menteri Besar of Perlis Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, his counterparts from Kedah, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Perak, Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli.

Also present were cabinet ministers, Sime Darby chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid.

More than 10,000 people attended the ceremony held at the Seberang Prai Municipal Council community hall in Jalan Bagan Luar, which Abdullah later renamed Dewan Datuk Haji Ahmad Badawi, after his late father.

He also officiated the ground-breaking ceremony for Penang Sentral and flagged off the much-awaited inaugural RapidPenang public bus service.

RapidPenang is a subsidiary of RapidKL and a government-owned company under the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

Abdullah said the state would also introduce rapid ferry services next year and the 37-km light monorail transit system.

"The state’s role is of utmost importance in determining the success of the whole NCER initiative."

Abdullah also announced the setting up of the micro-electronics excellence centre to further boost the manufacturing sector.

He said the centre would be a partnership between the government and private sector.

"The centre will be used to develop the local workforce to enable it to take on high-tech value-added activities," he said, adding that multinational corporations (MNCs) would be roped in to help in research and development efforts.

Abdullah also touched on the need for the state to promote itself as a premier tourist destination as well as a place for meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) activities.

He said the existing Penang Turf Club in Batu Gantong would be developed into the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), similar to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). :cheers:

Also, Pulau Jerejak will be developed for medical tourism.

Abdullah said the participation of the private sector would accelerate growth in the NCER.

He said Khazanah Nasional Bhd had opened an office in the state to attract more investments from government-linked companies and corporations.

Well... a lot of interesting projects and ideas happening in Penang... let's hope everything will go well and hope to see a whole new Penang in 10 years time!!!

August 01, 2007 00:11 AM

NCER Promises An Exciting Period For Penang, Says Koh

BUTTERWORTH, July 31 (Bernama) -- "A very exciting period and a dream made reality," is how Chief Minister of Penang Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon describes the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) development programme for the state.

During the next 18 years, the "Pearl of the Orient" will not only see its development as an investment destination for local and foreign investors but also as the logistics hub for the northern region.

The state's strategic location and infrastructure makes it the natural gateway to the NCER which also covers Perak, Kedah and Perlis as well as an ideal logistics hub for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.

To achieve all the objectives, as outlined by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during the state level launch here today, government linked companies and the private sector are expected to be the main drivers of the projects involving millions of ringgit with the main aim being economic growth and increased income for the people.

The NCER is estimated to see an investment of about RM177 billion involving the implementation of a comprehensive development programme promising a brighter future for the 4.29 million people in Penang, Perak, Kedah and Perlis.

For Penang, the programme starts from this year and will go on until 2025. There will be various phases with focus on logistics encompassing the development of an integrated transportation system covering air, sea and land to serve the import-export trade.

Penang will also see its development as the hub for electrical and electronics industry.

Also in plan is the implementation of the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), ala Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), a garden project in the city centre of Georgetown.

Besides an effective bus transportation system, Penang is also expected to provide faster ferry services from next year onwards.

A 37-km monorail system will be built to ease traffic congestion in the island and Seberang Prai.

Efforts in the manufacturing sector will focus on human capital development, research and development as well as the setting up of various learning centres and the provision of vocational training both by the private sector and the public sector.

As for the tourism sector, measures will be taken to attract tourists to stay on longer in the state, while the health tourism sector will be promoted to a new level.

Other features of the plan include developing the manufacturing sector in Butterworth and Kepala Batas, agriculture in Nibong Tebal, the expansion of the Bayan Lepas International Airport, education centres in Georgetown, Butterworth and Kepala batas, the building of the Second Penang Bridge and the widening of the Penang Port.

Abdullah has called on the people of Penang to play their respective roles in achieving the objectives of the NCER.

The local people are the important human capital who can make a success of the programme," he pointed out.

-- BERNAMA

The design of "Penang Sentral" is awesome!

"Penang Sentral" located at the island or mainland???

^^

It would be in the mainland as it connected to the railway line....

Its looks like Alor Setar has a big competition with Kulim and Sungai Petani in case of development.

^^

It would be in the mainland as it connected to the railway line....

Really???!!!! In that case, i'm soooo jealous with Seberang Prai.:bash:

Its looks like Alor Setar has a big competition with Kulim and Sungai Petani in case of development.

Noops. Kulim will be focusing on hi-tech industrial, Sungai Petani will be secondary city to Alor Star and probably commercial central for Kedah. Alor Star will remain the administrative city. It is stated in Menteri Besar statement that every daerah in kedah has different roles to play in order to achieve Kedah Maju 2010

Noops. Kulim will be focusing on hi-tech industrial, Sungai Petani will be secondary city to Alor Star and probably commercial central for Kedah. Alor Star will remain the administrative city. It is stated in Menteri Besar statement that every daerah in kedah has different roles to play in order to achieve Kedah Maju 2010

really..? nice to hear this. :)

but personally for me no matter how hard their try to retain alor star competitiveness, SP and Kulim will overtake them in near future in terms of growth and population.

and Perlis would just plunge deep down the drain...bet all they gonna do is turn Perlis into a supposedly a high tech AGRICULTURE state, yeah tiny little state all the way up north, not enough space for agri and they want the little state to rot in agriculture...what happened to the dry dock thing (Padang besar), the abandoned industrial sites, ya think they gonna revive that? NOT. I am sick and tired of our goverment and state goverment putting Perlis in the backburner. Perlis is sooo far behind that even rural towns in other states are more progressed than kangar!

kangar is s0o0oo0 kampung...:lol:
leeigh...are you from Perlis? i think you are...

i dunno about kangar since never been there,but i wish all the best to kangar.

kangar bukan pekan koboi lagi la.

The problem with Perlis is because of conflict in Southern Thailand. It is different in Johor Bharu. That is why Johor get IDR and Perlis only become Pusat Benih Negara. But if we relocate Singapore to the northern part of Malaysia, then Johor Bharu will become Pusat Benih Negara...

Emkay beli keseluruhan Pulau Banding

PEMAJU hartanah, Emkay Group membeli keseluruhan Pulau Banding di Gerik, Perak untuk dibangunkan sebagai destinasi ekopelancongan bertaraf dunia seiring pelaksanaan projek Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER).

Dalam kenyataan yang dikeluarkan di Kuala Lumpur, kumpulan berkata, ia membeli tanah seluas 117.6 hektar di Pulau Banding daripada Kumpulan Fima Bhd pada pertimbangan RM15.8 juta.

Sebelum ini, Emkay juga mengambil alih tanah seluas 96.8 hektar di Tasik Temenggor daripada kerajaan Perak.

Katanya, langkah berkenaan menjadikan kumpulan berasaskan hartanah itu, kini pemilik keseluruhan kawasan peranginan terbabit yang berkeluasan 240 hektar.



Kumpulan Emkay akan membangunkan Pulau Banding sebagai pintu masuk Kompleks Hutan Belum-Temengor yang berusia 130 tahun meliputi Taman Negeri Diraja Belum, Hutan Simpan Belum dan Hutan Simpan Temengor.

Projek pembangunan Pulau Banding membabitkan tiga fasa itu dijangka mampu menjana pendapatan pelancongan, selain menyediakan peluang pekerjaan kepada komuniti setempat, khususnya masyarakat Orang Asli.

Fasa pertama projek akan menyaksikan pengubahsuaian Resort Pulau Banding yang ketika ini mempunyai 27 bilik penginapan kepada hotel bertaraf tiga bintang dengan 120 bilik termasuk dewan makan dan mesyuarat.

Ia juga membabitkan pembinaan kawasan Rehat dan Rawat (R&R) untuk kemudahan pengguna lebuh raya dan Pusat Penyelidikan yang kos pembiayaannya ditanggung Yayasan Emkay.

Fasa kedua dan ketika projek itu akan membabitkan tawaran pembelian tanah kepada entiti korporat, individu dan pelabur asing bagi pembangunan resort bertaraf lima bintang di kawasan utara Pulau Banding.

Keseluruhan projek itu yang mempunyai nilai pembangunan kasar (GDV) RM600 juta, akan mengambil masa antara 10 hingga 15 tahun untuk disiapkan.

kangar is s0o0oo0 kampung...:lol:
leeigh...are you from Perlis? i think you are...

You are born in Kampong too, don't think that you move to KL then can consider a city boy. You forever a Kampong Boy too, with the mindset like that.

You are born in Kampong too, don't think that you move to KL then can consider a city boy. You forever a Kampong Boy too, with the mindset like that.

like what? you think kampung are so teruk ah!

kampung is not teruk, i dont think so, kampung is better than city in some aspect, everything got their own pros and cons,nothing is perfect, the people from city does not mean that he or she is the best, the one from kampung can fight with everyone in city, this is MALAYSIA !!!

about Perlis, what i can said is that they are developing now, not as worse as u guys think, highway, inland port, duty free, ferry terminal, double tracking railway, but just dont compare perlis with KL or Penang, Perlis have their own attraction.

kampung is not teruk, i dont think so, kampung is better than city in some aspect, everything got their own pros and cons,nothing is perfect, the people from city does not mean that he or she is the best, the one from kampung can fight with everyone in city, this is MALAYSIA !!!

about Perlis, what i can said is that they are developing now, not as worse as u guys think, highway, inland port, duty free, ferry terminal, double tracking railway, but just dont compare perlis with KL or Penang, Perlis have their own attraction.

:okay:

kangar is s0o0oo0 kampung...:lol:
leeigh...are you from Perlis? i think you are...

sekecik kecik Perlis...I am a proud son of the forgotten soil. I haven't been home in 17 years but have seen pictures and my brother still lives there...so I get first hand bitchin from my brother! hey OSH, jangan ler engkau gelak aku mai dari Perli:ohno: h! cis.

like what? you think kampung are so teruk ah!

biarkan dia nak bercakap...alsen...

hey OSH, jangan ler engkau gelak aku mai dari Perli:ohno: h! cis.

joking only lah...my friend from perlis told me kangar is like that....
i haven't been to kangar...but i guess the level of development in kangar suit their population....:yes:

like what? you think kampung are so teruk ah!

look at what your fren, osh said first, he condemn Perlis for being a kampong, but in actual fact he also from kampong. just when you move to kl and grow up in kl then thought that very powderful ah.

Ya, some more take scholarship to Japan, BIG BIG city.... then come back to malaysia and laugh at Perlis is Kampong. WHat a lousy mindset.:ohno:

I forger, he is your senior in Japan right? So you better don't changed to somebody like that OSH,

sudah la oi

August 03, 2007 16:27 PM

NCER Very Good Idea, Says Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) for which conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd will be the master planner, has been given the "nod" by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Very good idea," he told reporters after delivering his special keynote address entitled "Driving Malaysia As A Franchising Hub" at the Franchise International Malaysia 2007 here Friday.

Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched the NCER master plan state by state beginning last Monday in Kedah and Perlis followed by the launch in Penang and northern Perak the next day.

Dr Mahathir, who is also the patron of the Malaysian Franchise Association, also expressed his best wishes for the project.

Focus has been given to three main areas for the development of the northern region, namely agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism with support of infrastructure development and human capital.

One-third of the total investment in the NCER of RM177 billion until 2025 will be from the government, with the rest from the private sector.

Besides the southern and northern regions, plans are also underway for the development of the east coast, with substantial investment for the development to come from the private sector in the form of private finance initiatives (PFIs).

Asked on when Petronas, which has been tasked with the development of the East Coast, will come out with the masterplan for the Eastern Corridor development, Dr Mahathir said: "I don't know. Petronas have yet to tell me anything. I am waiting for them."

Dr Mahathir is the advisor to the national oil firm.

The government has given Petronas the responsibility of spearheading the development of the Eastern Corridor encompassing Kelantan, northern Terengganu and western Pahang.

As part of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), the eastern region states will be given an allocation of RM22.3 billion.



-- BERNAMA

PM to launch Butterworth park
Friday August 3, 2007
TheStar


THE launching of a 50th Independence Anniversary Park in Permatang Pauh, Butterworth, will be the highlight of the prelude to the Merdeka celebrations this year.

Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid who heads Program Mesra Rakyat Merdeka celebrations said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would launch the park at Tuanku Bainun Teaching Institute in Permatang Pauh this Saturday.

He said the park which was still under design and planning stage would feature the development and achievements made under Abdullah and past prime ministers.

“The park will also have galleries displaying contributions of the past leaders.

“Cycling and jogging tracks will also be built within the park which will also serve as a recreational area for the people,” he said.

Abdul Jalil said a mini Putrajaya and replicas of the Petronas twin tower, the Penang Bridge and the Penang Second Link would be built in the park.

“All tree species that can be found in the country will also be planted in the park,” Abdul Jalil who is also the Permatang Pauh Umno division head said.

Abdul Jalil said this at a press conference and launching of Program Mesra Rakyat at the institute.

He said the park would be sited on a 43ha plot owned by the federal government.

Application to turn the land into a park had been submitted for approval, he said.

He added that once approved, work to construct the park would take about two years.

“We will also promote the park as a new tourist destination for Penang,” he said.

He said Abdullah would be escorted by 15 vintage cars to the launching ceremony.

sudah la oi

yalah... sudahlah, kita ni orang malaysia, jaganlah macam tu...

i wonder why johor become metropolis but the northern region remain as paddy field?:ohno:

^^ penang akan jadi metropolis la.

tak de sebut pun ......:poke:

PDC to facilitate NCER implementation

Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

PENANG: Penang Development Corporation (PDC) will be leveraging on its key strengths to assist in the implementation of the newly launched Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Its general manager Datuk Rosli Jaafar said the company would look into all sectors of the regional development blueprint to see where it could work synergistically in the rollout of the projects.

“We will mainly play a supportive role in the rollout of the plan in areas relevant to our strengths which are in industrial, property and infrastructure development,” he told The Edge Financial Daily here.

to all,

At first, i was very skeptical about the NCER implementation. Like you, i doubt Pak Lah's intention to turn Northern Peninsular area into new and efficient rice bowl of Malaysia. For me then it was a step backwards.

I posted the question during Malaysian economy class about it. My lecturer explain, with all the redevelopment of agriculture, it's actually a natural step forward for developing countries. FYI, we're not going back to the past nor we want to increase the number of padi farmers, fisherman and cowboys (penternak lembu, kambing, ayam dsb). But the plan is rather to orchestrate a better system so that with the land we have, we can produce more which means greater efficiency, and better quality of our agricultural product.

Look around you, what's the average age of farmers? The answer will be around 40 years old. Obviously with all the development take away their child to join manufacturing industry with better paychecks. What Pak Lah and his economist want is to keep their child at home, give them better machineries to work on their fertile land and coordinated supply chain to ensure the process of producing quality product so that we can export the product overseas. As for the fisherman, deep water fishing port in Batu Maung is their place to start. Development doesn't solely mean building higher and higher building, crisscrossing web of highways. Development means doing things with better efficiencies and product-wise, it will be better. That's what they are trying to turn Northern Corridor into.

People tend to associate 'becoming developed country' with supertalls, banking and financial center etc etc. They see this image of developed countries in TVs. Let's take example USA. What people saw on TV everyday is New York, Hollywood, Hoover Dam, and sex. But they dont see farmers working on their crops with huge machine. USA produce high quality grain but many people dont know about it. I can go forever bragging about the agriculture product of USA but let's stop short here. Another example would be Netherlands.

That is what PM is trying to turn Penang into. In the future agriculture may not constitute half of our nation's export but with better use of our soil, we can achieve food self sufficiency. Service sector and manufacturing will still play the main role in the country.

We have Penang with the best infrastructure, Kedah and Perak with more land and Perlis which has Thai border up north. They are using the advantages of each state to make this thing successful. Penang will become the hub of distribution of our quality agriculture product.

The plan may not stated to turn Penang into metropolis. But i believe eventually Penang will turn itself into a metropolis once all the thing is in place.

Comparison between NCER and IDR

IDR is different. As Johor situated just next to Singapore, it's best positioned to tap into Singapore industries which try to find cheaper place to relocate their operation. Apart from that, adding banking and service sector will make it more attractive as it will make them one-stop-center for operation. You wanna set a factory? Yes you have the space. Financing? Yes we have banks and financial institutions. Quality workers? Aplenty, find them in UTM and other colleges. That's IDR advantage over Batam. Batam may only provide workspace and tax perks but Johor can provide it all. Just bring you plan and we'll make it happen.

Household income in Johor is higher than those within NCER. Everybody knows because of the Singaporean dollar power, the cost of living in JB is much higher than the cost of living in Penang. So that's why Pak Lah wants to improve the income and livelihood among farmers in NCER. You cant just make them to join manufacturing sector while their education background is merely until darjah 6 or form 3 only. Nowadays even when u want to work as operator pengeluaran in Prai they want you to have at least SPM. So apart from education the most suitable way to provide them with job is to train them with latest technology/technique in farming, animal husbandry (penternakan haiwan) and deep water fishing. Naturally, the generation will move upwards the supply chain.

We cant be overly dependent on manufacturing. With stronger ringgit it make Malaysia less attractive as labor intensive industry is actively seeking cheaper place such as Vietnam and China to do their business. What Malaysian and Pak Lah do in Penang is to focus on high end, RnD jobs which needs more intellects to do it. Higher end job means higher pay, and bigger spending power.

So Penangites, dont feel so low because NCER talks more about agriculture, understand the concept, and in the end of 10 years from now everybody will know foods serve on their table must have come from Kedah and Perlis or Perak, processed and distributed by companies in Penang.

Let all supertalls stay elsewhere, i'm much prouder with our prewar houses, electronics industry and Penang Airport.

Yesterday Ghani Othman told reporters that he thinks Senai Airport have much better facilities than Penang Airport. Perhaps he can explain why Fedex, UPS, KAL Cargo, MAS Kargo, Eva Air Cargo and China Airlines cargo does not fly into Senai and pick up boxes there......

You are a SUPER PILOT.
I like your comments and accepted it.

But you mentioned about USA....err....SEX...
Haha that is damn TRUE.
Most of the Pornographic movie (with real meriam one) i watched is from US.
HAHA.......

Well said ssangyoung. Another good example is Australia, they have very strong agriculture sector although all they have to do to survuive is have a shovel and dig for ores of which OZ has plenty.

South Australia, despite being an overall agricultural state, is home to 70% of Australia's defense industry.:) So, being an agriculture state, does't mean its 'low class'.

my aussie state here is also Agriculture state...

Yeah i forgot about Australia. I remember a documentary in Discovery Channel showing penternakan lembu2 manja di Jepun. Cows in that area are pampered, given highest quality food and even served red wine at times!! Every morning before they let go the cows to open space, they massage them first. Happy cows produce high quality meat and believe it or not, 1 kilogram of happy Japanese cows fetch about rm 2000 - rm 3000. I dont know about the accuracy of this figure, perhaps our friends in Japan can confirm.

Australia is good example. You see, the standard of life over there, and high quality wines...Shiraz is one of them..

06-08-2007: Putting together support infrastructure



KUALA LUMPUR: Just like the structural foundation of a building, the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) master plan will not be able to hold its ground and achieve its goals if the required building blocks and support structures are not put in place.

With its main objectives of economic growth of key industries and overall social development of the northern states, there is no denying the NCER will need to boost its physical infrastructure and skilled talents to achieve these aims.

Physical infrastructure refers not only to building of new highways and transport systems; it also includes improvement of utility services like energy, water and waste management, and irrigation systems for agriculture.

These have been included in the master plan in combination with several infrastructure mega projects allocated for under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), for which total investment will run into the billions.

While issues of inadequate physical infrastructure are easily addressed, the challenge of creating a skilled talent pool that will drive these key economic sectors forward and effect the much-needed paradigm shift among the lower-educated community is a different issue altogether.


Brain drain and paradigm shifts

Some 46% of the poor and hardcore poor households in Malaysia are located in the NCER, with some families surviving on incomes of less than RM200 per month. Given that the majority of these people have below-PMR education level, resistance to change and modernisation will likely be strong.

In view of this, the government will need to work hard to change their mindset and overcome any resistance before there is any hope of improving their quality of life or getting the NCER initiatives off the ground.

At the same time, another issue the NCER will have to address is the loss of Malaysian knowledge workers to developed countries, which has intensified over the years, leading to a severe lack of skilled human talent within the local market.

Although the government has not officially revealed the number of skilled Malaysians working overseas since 2004 —the total number was about 40,000 then — it can be safely assumed that the number has increased over the past few years with the global shift towards a knowledge-based economies.

An indication of this is in the migration of 4,000 Malaysians with special skills or degrees to Australia last year alone.

At the same time, graduate unemployment has also been plaguing the local talent pool, augmenting the fact that we are losing our best and brightest to other countries.

In fact, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said last year that there would be a shortage of between 30,000 and 40,000 researchers, scientists and engineers by 2010 if the country did not put into place effective measures to stop the brain drain.

Development initiatives for new sectors under the NCER master plan such as seed research and biotechnology require people with skill sets and expertise that are scarce in the country, and which will prove to be a problem if these industries are earmarked for growth.


Improving physical infrastructure

Plans are underway to enhance the national and international linkages of the NCER to external trade zones, including border towns, ports and airports in the region, as well as connect the region with other economic regions in the country.

The new highway projects slated include the second bridge connecting Penang to Batu Kawan, a coastal highway, widening of roads between Butterworth and Kota Bharu connecting the NCER to the Eastern Corridor, upgrading of roads from Taiping to Grik and a new highway linking Yan with Gurun.

Railway transportation within the NCER will also be improved with new projects like the Butterworth transportation hub, the Penang Monorail project, the Ipoh-Sungai Petani commuter train and an inland commercial depot in Padang Besar.

Since Penang has been identified for transformation into a regional integrated logistics hub, the facilities and capacity of its airport and seaport will be upgraded to cater to higher volumes in aircraft and feeder vessel traffic.

In line with the aim of modernising the agriculture sector, steps will be taken to improve the irrigation systems and water supply of rice-growing areas in the NCER. Currently, 89.3% of rice fields in the NCER are irrigated compared with 98.3% in Selangor.

Hence, the government is planning to extend, widen and deepen existing canals, build new reservoirs and develop man-made lakes, all of which are expected to help address the problems that farmers face.


Creating a larger skilled talent pool

Although Penang, Perlis and Kedah will have their own programmes and initiatives for talent creation, Perak has been selected as the human capital development centre for the NCER, and a centre of skills excellence has been planned in the state.

Existing government vocational skills centres will be expanding their intake to include 15-year-olds and new courses with an economic focus will be introduced, such as agribusiness, modern aquaculture, paddy farming, equipment maintenance and logistics equipment operations.

Other initiatives aimed at training human capital for knowledge-intensive areas include the proposed microelectronics centre of excellence in Penang and Sime Darby’s seed academy in Perlis.

To encourage private companies to participate in the new sectors under the NCER master plan, a new Human Capital Development Fund will be set up with an annual allocation of RM20 million to provide employee training in these sub-sectors and development of specialised skills.

The NorthStar Agriculture Scholarship Programme targeted at those wishing to pursue a career in agriculture or agribusiness will be established to encourage students to obtain undergraduate or post-graduate qualifications from Universiti Putra Malaysia, as well as certain universities abroad.

Yeah i forgot about Australia. I remember a documentary in Discovery Channel showing penternakan lembu2 manja di Jepun. Cows in that area are pampered, given highest quality food and even served red wine at times!! Every morning before they let go the cows to open space, they massage them first. Happy cows produce high quality meat and believe it or not, 1 kilogram of happy Japanese cows fetch about rm 2000 - rm 3000. I dont know about the accuracy of this figure, perhaps our friends in Japan can confirm.

Australia is good example. You see, the standard of life over there, and high quality wines...Shiraz is one of them..

that is kobe cow right, the most expensive beef in the market/restaurant.

The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) marginalises Penang as the Federal government has neither stated how much development funds will be spent on Penang nor the target of investment to be attracted to Penang

_______________

Press Conference

by Lim Guan Eng

___________________



(Penang, Wednesday): The NCER is one of the regions identified under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) for the promotion of balanced and equitable national economic development. The NCER claims to revolve around three main thrusts of agriculture, manufacturing and services. However, what we have seen so far is the emphasis of agriculture at the expense of manufacturing and services, which are the mainstays of Penang’s economy.

The NCER marginalizes Penang, as the Federal government has neither stated how much development funds will be spent on Penang nor the target of investment to be attracted to Penang. One fund manager, Aseambankers Equity Research on 5 July 2007, said that the NCER is estimated that at least RM50 billion will be invested in the region over the next 10 to 15 years, with almost half going into infrastructure such as the Second Penang Bridge, Penang Monorail, Ipoh-Padang Besar double-tracking project, highways and inland roads, as well as integrated water management that includes irrigation and flood mitigation.

Compared with Johor’s Iskandar Developlment Region(IDR) which targets RM 50 billion over the first five years and RM 383 billion target over 20 years, the NCER and Penang has clearly lost out in the race for foreign investment. In contrast to Johor alone getting RM 50 billion over 5 years, the RM 50 billion is to be divided over four states of Kedah, Perlis, Perak and Penang and over a period not of 6 years but over 10 to 15 years.

When the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launches the NCER on 30 July, can he reveal how much the government is going to spend in NCER, particularly for Penang? For instance, the RM 2.7 billion 23.5 km second Penang Bridge is fully funded by a RM 2.7 billion loan from China Export and Import Bank.

Furthermore the NCER is driven by agriculture unlike the IDR which is driven by foreign investment. Whilst the implementation of IDR is under the personal supervision of the Prime Minister, the NCER is handled by a GLC, Sime Darby.

How much Penang loses out can be seen by the Johor a total of RM 2,489 million comprising domestic investment of RM 879 million and foreign investment of RM 1,610 million in the manufacturing sector for the first three months of 2007. Penang pales in comparison with only RM 178 million comprising RM 81 million in domestic investment and RM 97 million in foreign investment. The difference in investor interest and importance between IDR and NCER or between Johor and Penang can be seen by the difference of investment between RM 2,489 million and RM 178 million! (see table below)

Sime Darby is too busy involved in creating the largest listed palm oil firm in the world. The RM 30 billion merger between GLCs, Sime Darby, Golden Hope Plantations and Kumpulan Guthrie into Synergy Drive Bhd will see it being listed in November as the second-largest company on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of about RM48.5 billion. Besides the main three companies, the five other related companies involved in the merger are Guthrie Ropel Bhd, Highlands & Lowlands Bhd, Mentakab Rubber Company (Malaya) Bhd, Sime Engineering Services Bhd and Sime UEP Properties Bhd.

Upon completion of the merger, Synergy Drive is expected to have a combined workforce of about 107,000 people. Will Sime Darby be focused on the NCER when they are busy combining the three large firms and 5 smaller firms into one productive entity?


(18/7/2007)

ehe.. ini oposition punya org. jgn layan la.

even org kedah n perak pun jelous dgn project kat penang tue.

but it's claerly that Penang has lost its competitiveness in attacting foreign investors to Johor under NCER...:ohno:

do you read newspaper? NCER focus more on local investors. IDR is for foreigners. You go read again and join this discussion later.

do you read newspaper? NCER focus more on local investors. IDR is for foreigners. You go read again and join this discussion later.

Sure i've read newspaper...that's why i said Penang will no longer be able to attact foreign investors under NCER since NCER focus on local investors. Penang used to attact many foreign investors years back. But now government emphasizes on IDR to bring in foreign investors, Penang will lose its share of foreign invesment.

Don't doubt about someone's opinion if you yourself don't even understand the meaning of that opinion! :ohno: :ohno: :ohno:

i dont bother to explain to someone who has clearly dont understand economy.

it is good for a region to focus on one economic sector...for penang, their position of being malaysia's silicon valley is still being strengthen eventhough for NCER, it plays as a logistic hub for agriculture and it's support industries.

while IDR is much similar to what Batam is now. only we start late since the previous premier has a policy of ignoring singapore...

IDR has the DEB-free policy and we still don't know if it sounds attractive enough for foreign investors.

Sure i've read newspaper...that's why i said Penang will no longer be able to attact foreign investors under NCER since NCER focus on local investors. Penang used to attact many foreign investors years back. But now government emphasizes on IDR to bring in foreign investors, Penang will lose its share of foreign invesment.

Don't doubt about someone's opinion if you yourself don't even understand the meaning of that opinion! :ohno: :ohno: :ohno:

I feel that you are right, government are envy of what Penang manage to attract electronic sector (under previous PG Chief Minister) that contributed more than 40% (of course not all electronic parts are from Penang) of our export.
Therefore they start to create hightech park in Kulim, Bangi, anywhere lar, as if all new industrial area need to bear the name of Hightech Park.

Then Penang start to loose out if foreign investment. But recently Thanks to a Penangite, which he plan to transfer his company headquarter in US to Penang.

What a Great Effort!!!!!

Making the NCER work
by08-08-2007:
by Toh Mei Ling
THEEDGEDAILY


KUALA LUMPUR: Now that most of the initiatives under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) master plan have been unveiled, expectations from the Malaysian public are at an all-time high.

In view of this, it is crucial that the government does everything in its power to ensure that the initiatives are carried out successfully for the NCER, which is now under close scrutiny by a wary rakyat that have had their share of “castles in the sky”.

Compared to the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), the NCER master plan is more down-to-earth as it focuses on developing industrial sectors that are already pillars of the northern states’ economy and achieving greater social equity.

While the IDR’s success depends heavily on foreign direct investments (of which observers say that there has only been lukewarm response thus far), the NCER on the other hand, is meant to be driven by the Malaysian private sector.

On hindsight, this makes attracting investments easier in the NCER, but a lot depends on the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority’s (NCIA) ability to follow through on the plans and ensure the active participation of industry players.

Because of its unique position as the facilitator between the government and investors, and its agenda to drive the social and economic development in the region, the right candidate is needed to lead the NCIA, while its organisational structure will also play a crucial role in ensuring NCER’s success.

Sceptical observers believe that making the right decision in these two areas – in getting the candidate and organisational structure right - will be difficult because Malaysia has always adhered to the sensitivities of being politically correct, rather than running the risk of offending others by doing what most would consider, is the right thing.

In a previous interview with The Edge weekly, Datuk Ahmad Zubir Murshid, chief executive officer of the NCER master plan’s architect Sime Darby Bhd, pointed out that the parameters of the NCER are very different from that of the IDR.

As the NCER covers four states — Penang, Perlis, Kedah and Northern Perak — 21 divisions, three sultans, one governor, three mentris besar and one chief minister, the issue of red tapes and power struggles are more likely to occur here than with the IDR.

Not forgetting, the NCIA would need to get the buy-in from all the incumbents and coordinate between them to successfully implement the initiatives under the NCER master plan.

Agriculture will be the key economic focus area of the NCER, followed by the manufacturing, logistics and tourism sectors. Although agriculture has always been a major economy in the northern region, modernising the sector will be challenging.

Aside from poor irrigation and water management systems which can easily be addressed, introducing modern agriculture technology and best practices will likely be met with some resistance, considering the fact that 60% of NCER’s population have an education level of PMR and below.

Because of this, the community holds strongly to tradition, practising agriculture the way it has always been done from the days of their forefathers. Hence, to convince them on the change and adoption of new technologies and methods will require a significant shift in mindset.

But this is only one of the people hurdles the NCER will need to address. The other would be to build a sufficiently large knowledge workforce to support the economic development and growth in the NCER and to make it attractive enough for the younger generation to live and work in the region.

While there are initiatives that will focus on the creation of skilled human talent, the question is whether or not the people resulting from these training programmes and skills excellence centres are able to drive the development of identified new sectors such as biotechnology and certain agriculture downstream businesses.

Generating a talent pool for the agriculture sector will not be enough, as the NCER will also be driven by three other sectors with very different dynamics. Each sector presents its own set of issues and challenges.

Since the master plan aims to turn Penang into an integrated logistics hub, many of the issues that are hampering the potential of the industry need to be addressed before this is even possible.

This includes improving the facilities of Penang’s airport and port, increasing warehousing capabilities, investing in the necessary ICT infrastructure and systems to make operations efficient and more cost effective, as well as putting together the right incentives to attract more activity from industry players.

The tourism sector in the NCER, on the other hand, has been suffering for years due to neglect from a lack of funds, low visitor traffic and poor marketing and branding capabilities. Average spending per tourist is also significantly lower in the northern region compared to other tourist spots within the country.

Medical tourism will also be a focus moving forward, particularly for Penang and Langkawi. However, in order to cater to the increase in demand for healthcare services, special incentives need to be put in place to boost the number of medical practitioners in the region and bring back Malaysian medical professionals practising overseas.

The current system does not make it easy for Malaysian medical professionals who are trained overseas to return to practise in the country. In fact, for many years, the system has served to discourage them from returning as a means to protect medical professionals who are trained locally.

As such, this will have to change if the government wish to strengthen the quality of healthcare services in Malaysia while at the same time, increase the number of specialist doctors within the country.

All in all, the NCER master plan has generated different responses from industries as well as the general public. Some are taking it with a pinch of salt, while others believe it may actually help in closing the industrial development gap within the region.

Only time will tell if the NCER master plan will result in the outcome that the nation desires, but meanwhile, it is important to work together in hopes of achieving greater economic wealth and social equity for the people.

if anybody realize, electronic sector in Penang has moved up the supply chain by focusing more on high end job and research and development work. Other high tech park has taken penang's role in the entry level assembly job that requires little tech knowledge to be done. That's why after more than a decade of operation, Motorola set up RnD centre for radio tech research in Penang because the industry has matured and ready to accommodate such complex and difficult job. Intel also has their RnD in Penang while plant in Kulim focuses more on like i said before, mass producing chips and assembly works.

Dell chose to have their Asia Pacific assembly plant in Bukit Tengah because of two things, 1. Supply of hardware needed to build a laptop or a PC (plenty of electronics kilang kilang in Penang where we all know Intel and AMD have plants in Penang. Seagate and Komag produce raw hard disk and banyak lagi kilang that take ages to mention here. 2. Penang has excellent cargo airport in Bayan Lepas, where the second advanced cargo centre being manage by MasKargo is there. Some of Dell laptops and PCs also shipped to North America but only small percentage. All Dell laptop and PCs sold in Asia Pacific except China and Japan are produced here in Bukit Tengah. Before, Dell used to have monitoring center in Cyberjaya but they closed it down because there's no enough quality manpower, they moved to Penang, in Bayan Lepas plant. They reopened Cyberjaya office as Global Business Center now.

Enough about Dell, what people perceive as reduction in FDI compared to Johor and Selangor have base, but rather when u look closely FDI attracted to Penang especially in electronics and electrical industry now we called it high end FDI, quality FDI that will helped Penang move forward. Yes, Johor receive FDI more but it's because their site is suitable for mass manufacturing process, not high end work like RnD etc. I'm not saying that there's none RnD work being done in Johor but Penang has more of it especially when it comes to EnE sector. It's just a natural process, when things matured, it's time to move upward. People are worried when Intel declared $1.2 billion plant in Vietnam but hey, it's actually what they have invested in Penang more than 10 years ago.

Osram story..anyone? As Penang electronics sector matured, next step is biotechnology. That's what Singapore is doing now. And Penang has just started the process. There's 2 company from UK if i'm not mistaken started their biotech operation in Bukit Minyak. For more info you can go to PDC website. Penang's advantage when it comes to agriculture is that, we're slowly developing biotech with helps and experiment materials coming in from Kedah, Perlis and Perak. That's why, apart from helping rural people in these states, Pak Lah economists realize that they can use Penang advantage of developing biotech industry. There's no other states in Malaysia that's better than this other than Penang, i'm not exaggerating but that is the truth. We're now strengthening our position in RnD high end sector and making headway in biotech. Crop can be better utilize with help from biotech companies in Penang. Of course we will not see this kinda development by next year but in 5-10 years, you will finally see it. Disadvantage? Singapore is already 10 tiang ke depan because they start early.

Kulim high tech park. Why Kulim not Alor Star? Dr M realize then, in near future, landed spaces for electronics industry in Penang will become more expensive, companies will find way to reduce cost of operating by moving out their operation in other areas. So he thinks of Kulim, close to Penang, seaport, airport. Enough said. Instead of going to Vietnam or China, Intel said just go to Kulim. Much closer, many vendors in Penang and most of all, we can save many by mobilizing workforce between the two factories that are close to each other. Since Penang plant already has many experienced engineer, we can trust them and guide them further with IC design for our future chip. We can train and employ entry level engineers in new plant in Kulim. That's it. That's the logic and that's how natural economic transformation. You cant build from the top, you must train yourself from the bottom. It's same with electronics or any industry.

Just as everybody worry about decreasing level of FDI in Johor, there will still be FDI coming into Penang but i think almost all will come in Rnd high end and biotech sector. For mass manufacturing they will go to Johor. Johor industry is diverse so it's understandable they receive more and more FDI. And how many percent of the FDI are from Singapore? How many Singaporean company invest in Penang and how many Singaporean companies invest in Johor? If you cut Singapore FDI from total of received FDI in Johor, will Johor sustain the top place? Geographical location also plays a part. Penang is alone up north. We dont have another Singapore in Hadyai or Danok or Acheh. Penang is doing what's best without any wealthy neighbor such as Singapore.

If i were a Singaporean investor, the logic is hey why go to Penang, Johor is just next door what? Lunch time can go home makan at my own rumah. Also, very easy to export, Changi just less than one hour maaa....why Penang, Penang is nice but it's too far. Although in Johor orang potong tangan mau curi jam, dekat saja so why pergi jauh2? Easy to monitor. Penang has good air cargo facilities tak economy laa you want to transport your goods by air from Penang to Singapore.

Wanna sleep now. Talk about Singapore i have Singapore Airlines Cargo interview hari Sabtu. Wish me luck.

Well said, pilots.:okay::yes: good luck mate! This is what I try to explain to other people that have this negative impact on NCER.
if anybody realize, electronic sector in Penang has moved up the supply chain by focusing more on high end job and research and development work. Other high tech park has taken penang's role in the entry level assembly job that requires little tech knowledge to be done. That's why after more than a decade of operation, Motorola set up RnD centre for radio tech research in Penang because the industry has matured and ready to accommodate such complex and difficult job. Intel also has their RnD in Penang while plant in Kulim focuses more on like i said before, mass producing chips and assembly works.

Dell chose to have their Asia Pacific assembly plant in Bukit Tengah because of two things, 1. Supply of hardware needed to build a laptop or a PC (plenty of electronics kilang kilang in Penang where we all know Intel and AMD have plants in Penang. Seagate and Komag produce raw hard disk and banyak lagi kilang that take ages to mention here. 2. Penang has excellent cargo airport in Bayan Lepas, where the second advanced cargo centre being manage by MasKargo is there. Some of Dell laptops and PCs also shipped to North America but only small percentage. All Dell laptop and PCs sold in Asia Pacific except China and Japan are produced here in Bukit Tengah. Before, Dell used to have monitoring center in Cyberjaya but they closed it down because there's no enough quality manpower, they moved to Penang, in Bayan Lepas plant. They reopened Cyberjaya office as Global Business Center now.

Enough about Dell, what people perceive as reduction in FDI compared to Johor and Selangor have base, but rather when u look closely FDI attracted to Penang especially in electronics and electrical industry now we called it high end FDI, quality FDI that will helped Penang move forward. Yes, Johor receive FDI more but it's because their site is suitable for mass manufacturing process, not high end work like RnD etc. I'm not saying that there's none RnD work being done in Johor but Penang has more of it especially when it comes to EnE sector. It's just a natural process, when things matured, it's time to move upward. People are worried when Intel declared $1.2 billion plant in Vietnam but hey, it's actually what they have invested in Penang more than 10 years ago.

Osram story..anyone? As Penang electronics sector matured, next step is biotechnology. That's what Singapore is doing now. And Penang has just started the process. There's 2 company from UK if i'm not mistaken started their biotech operation in Bukit Minyak. For more info you can go to PDC website. Penang's advantage when it comes to agriculture is that, we're slowly developing biotech with helps and experiment materials coming in from Kedah, Perlis and Perak. That's why, apart from helping rural people in these states, Pak Lah economists realize that they can use Penang advantage of developing biotech industry. There's no other states in Malaysia that's better than this other than Penang, i'm not exaggerating but that is the truth. We're now strengthening our position in RnD high end sector and making headway in biotech. Crop can be better utilize with help from biotech companies in Penang. Of course we will not see this kinda development by next year but in 5-10 years, you will finally see it. Disadvantage? Singapore is already 10 tiang ke depan because they start early.

Kulim high tech park. Why Kulim not Alor Star? Dr M realize then, in near future, landed spaces for electronics industry in Penang will become more expensive, companies will find way to reduce cost of operating by moving out their operation in other areas. So he thinks of Kulim, close to Penang, seaport, airport. Enough said. Instead of going to Vietnam or China, Intel said just go to Kulim. Much closer, many vendors in Penang and most of all, we can save many by mobilizing workforce between the two factories that are close to each other. Since Penang plant already has many experienced engineer, we can trust them and guide them further with IC design for our future chip. We can train and employ entry level engineers in new plant in Kulim. That's it. That's the logic and that's how natural economic transformation. You cant build from the top, you must train yourself from the bottom. It's same with electronics or any industry.

Just as everybody worry about decreasing level of FDI in Johor, there will still be FDI coming into Penang but i think almost all will come in Rnd high end and biotech sector. For mass manufacturing they will go to Johor. Johor industry is diverse so it's understandable they receive more and more FDI. And how many percent of the FDI are from Singapore? How many Singaporean company invest in Penang and how many Singaporean companies invest in Johor? If you cut Singapore FDI from total of received FDI in Johor, will Johor sustain the top place? Geographical location also plays a part. Penang is alone up north. We dont have another Singapore in Hadyai or Danok or Acheh. Penang is doing what's best without any wealthy neighbor such as Singapore.

If i were a Singaporean investor, the logic is hey why go to Penang, Johor is just next door what? Lunch time can go home makan at my own rumah. Also, very easy to export, Changi just less than one hour maaa....why Penang, Penang is nice but it's too far. Although in Johor orang potong tangan mau curi jam, dekat saja so why pergi jauh2? Easy to monitor. Penang has good air cargo facilities tak economy laa you want to transport your goods by air from Penang to Singapore.

Wanna sleep now. Talk about Singapore i have Singapore Airlines Cargo interview hari Sabtu. Wish me luck.

Salute you lar, Pilot.
Wish you all the best for your interview!!!!! See see, we are loosing one talented person to Singapore again. WTF!

By the way, if investPenang need talents, i will first recommended you.

P/S: You can be Penang advisor/ambassador by ganti the so called "Dr" K.

Here's the story on Osram, in that part it does mention the progress of Osram, here in Penang in terms of production...

Source : http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_d8162c6a-cb73c03a-12696c20-5bc33113

18-07-2007: Osram to invest triple-digit million euros in LED plant
by Jonathan Chen
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com


Osram Opto Semiconductors (Osram OS) will be investing "triple digit" million euros in its operations here to build the world's most advanced light emitting diode (LED) chip fabrication plant on the island.

Its chief executive officer and president Datuk Dr Ruediger Mueller said the new plant would have a floor space of more than 30,000 sq m in addition to its existing 90,000 sq m plant.

He said the new fabrication plant would have an annual production capacity equivalent to a chip area of over 500 sq m, of which 99% of production would be destined for the global LED market.

"Production is expected to start in the spring of 2009," he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of its new plant here yesterday.

"It is expected that the new plant would provide an additional 800 new jobs which will bring our total headcount here to over 3,000," he said, adding that about 400 jobs would be in its LED chip fabrication activities.

"The new plant here will be the second LED chip factory after our plant in Regensburg, Germany. It is the first time that we are exporting central strategic technology know-how to another market outside Osram's home country," Mueller added.

In addition, the capacity of its existing LED assembly line here will be boosted by more that 50% when the new plant is operational.

Osram's Penang operations previously focused on back-end production which includes assembly of LEDs infrared components and high powered lasers, used commonly in the automotive and general lighting industries, as well as other visualisation, sensing and laser applications.

Mueller said its new LED chip fabrication operations would allow it to produce LED chips employing Indium-Gallium-Nitrade technology — a prerequisite for solid state lighting.

He said with the new plant operational, it could now further position itself to cash into increasing high demand of solid state lighting products.

Demands for such products are fast on the rise worldwide with many European nations aiming to ban the use of incandescent light sources in the near future.

For its 2006 fiscal year, Osram OS, a subsidiary of lighting manufacturer OSRAM, recorded sales totalling more that 500 million euros.

New Malaysian economic zone to focus on tourism

Aug 08, 07 | 10:05 am


By Yusof Sulaiman
Malaysia to develop tourism in its northern states.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (eTN) - The newly announced economic development zone in northern peninsular Malaysia will give a fillip to the tourism industry in the northern states.

The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) blueprint was announced last week and will focus on tourism, in addition to diversifying the area into a more modern manufacturing, agricultural, services and logistics center.

"The new NCER tourism master plan will focus on offering tourists unique tourism products that will encourage them to spend more, and stay longer," added Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Added Eddy Low, Association of Tourism Attractions in Penang: "The northern states have a wonderful range of heritage, arts and cultural tourism products which are yet to be discovered. We have yet to tell the world our whole story."

Efforts will be made to concentrate on reenergizing and rebranding Langkawi Island and Penang first, and subsequently develop critical mass on two to three other locations on the mainland.

According to the blueprint, the tourism industry in the NCER states requires more tourist destinations with a critical mass of attractions. Islands in the Northern Corridor will be enhanced to become premier destinations for medical tourism, while stepping up the local community's participation in the tourism sector.

Presently, despite many attractive lake resorts and recreational parks in the region, poor maintenance and thinly spread resources has resulted in low visitor interest and volume.

"The new NCER master plan for tourism will focus on offering tourists unique tourism products that will encourage them to spend more and stay longer," added Badawi.

Penang will be promoted as an international MICE destination, as well as the northern hub for medical tourism.

"In the past few years, Penang has successfully focused on developing itself as a regional destination for cultural, heritage and medical tourism," said State Tourism Development Committee Chairman, Teng Chang Yeow. "Unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, Penang is not able to draw the cruise crowd because we don't have the facilities."

To raise Penang's profile as an international MICE destination, an eco-friendly center, Penang Global City Center (PGCC) comprising two iconic towers, a shopping complex and an arts theater will be built on a former turf club land in central Penang.

Designed by a renowned American architect, PGCC will be touted as a 'zero carbon' city community center.

A city garden center, linking the present Botanical Gardens and Youth Garden will also be built. "When fully completed in 15 years it will become a landmark in the Northern Corridor."

Jerejak island, a former penal colony for convicts, will be turned into into the region's medical tourism center.

The state's tourism office is looking at attracting 500,000 foreign patients in the next three years, bringing an estimated revenue of US$30 million. "Our health facilities must meet the high standards, or accredited by US-based bodies, if we want to attract patients from Europe and the US."

To enhance skills in the hospitality industry in the region, a tourism college offering specialized courses will be opened in Balik Pulau, off Penang island.

Penang's thrust as a logistics center will revolve around the announced app. $2 billion major projects under the NCER masterplan. "Penang plays an important role as a key logistics hub," explains Abdullah.

Existing facilities will be expanded and a new central transportation hub will be built in Butterworth on the mainland to integrate land, sea and rail links with the rest of the country.

A public bus system, Rapid Penang, patterned and modeled after a similar system in Kuala Lumpur recently started service with gleaming, 150 new and sleek buses. "Penangites will be going through some exciting times," said Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Khoon.

In addition to a new bridge linking the island to the mainland which will be built and financed in a joint venture with the Chinese government, some $1 billion will be spent on a new central transport hub, Penang Outer Ring Road and the Penang Monorail projects.

As host of the Malaysia Tourism Exchange Bureau in 2008, Penang plans to attract more than 200 tourism industry buyers from Asian countries to the island. "There are plans to include buyers from the inter-Pacific region, including the US."

Asserts Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, "Suitable incentives will be provided to develop the tourism industry which will enable the industry to become the engine of development for the Northern Corridor.

"The challenge for the tourism industry in the Northern Corridor is to raise the income derived from the industry."

A combined government and private sector initiative, the plan aims to boost the economy and raise income levels in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak in peninsular Malaysia.

Covering a span of 18 years, the $51 billion (RM177 billion) masterplan aims to create half a million jobs by 2012, rising to one million by 2018.

Penang Port Set To Be The Leading Port For NCER
Updated : 14-08-2007
Media : Bernama
Story By : Muna Khalid
via www.biznewsdb.com


PENANG, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Penang Port is set to be the leading port not only for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and also for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) as several key projects are in the pipeline to upgrade the port.

Strategically located along the northwest coast of the peninsula, Penang Port serves some of the busiest trade routes in the region and links Malaysia to more than 200 ports worldwide.

Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) managing director Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar said that in line with the port's strategy to be supply-driven, several key projects have been identified in its business plan for 2007-2012.

These include the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) expansion, North Channel dredging and the construction of a barging centre.

"The developments are in line with the move to elevate its status to a main line port," he told Bernama in an interview recently.

Ahmad said RM672 million will be spent to buy new equipment and upgrade infrastructure to further improve the operational efficiency of the NBCT, making the port on par with the region's top ports.

The NBCT expansion project includes a 600m extension to the existing 900m of wharves and the construction of a new stacking area for export containers directly behind the 600m wharf.

The 177m by 170m new barging centre at the south end of the existing wharf is expected to be completed by 2009.

Also included in the development project is a new back stacking area to the existing 900m wharves. Work on it will begin in 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2010.

"With these projects, the productivity at the port will be revisited, with a new target of crane productivity at more than 30 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units) moves an hour," he said, pointing out that the port now mainly handles feeder ships.

Ahmad said PPSB's major target is to increase the volume of cargo processed at Penang Port to one billion TEUs a year in 2012.

On the North Channel dredging, he said the aim is to increase the depth from 11.5m to 13.5m to serve mother vessels. The cost of the dredging is expected to be RM150 million.

According to him, PPSB is also developing a Centralised Tankage Facilities (CTF) project near the Bagan Ajam toll plaza along the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR), This will be on a 40-ha site along the coast.

"The CTF will include storage tanks for various type of oils and gas, a road tanker loading terminal, gas filling facilities, drumming facilities, blending tanks for bio diesel, lubricants and additives as well as warehousing," he added.

The project's estimated cost is RM1.2 billion and is to be operational by the end of 2013. It will become a hub for moving liquid cargo in and out of Malaysia by sea.

The water draft will be about 13m so as to accommodate vessels of up to 50,000 DWT (deadweight tonnes).

Ahmad estimates the volume of liquid cargo to be handled by CTF to average 700,000 metric tonnes a month.

Also in the plan is the relocation and construction of a new Dangerous Goods (DG) Terminal to the south of the Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal, work on which is expected to commence next January and be ready the following November.

He said efforts are being made to redevelop the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal with a T-shaped berth 400m long and 12m deep to cater for larger cruise vessels which carry more than 2,000 passengers.

The redevelopment will include facilities for shopping, accommodation and transportation.

"With the upgraded Swettenham Cruise Terminal in operation, Penang will not only become an international cruise ship destination but will also act as a catalyst in the development of the tourism industry," he added.

The RM65 million project had started in May 2006 and is scheduled to be completed next year.

Ahmad also spoke of the intention to upgrade the Tanjong City Marina which has been in operation since October 2005, catering for vessels with a maximum draft of four metres.

It has 102 berths ranging from 11m to 50m and can accommodate up to 140 yachts and boats of various sizes.

"The inner city marina located in Georgetown will be equipped with facilities and services such as customs, immigration and port clearance, 24-hour security, electrical and water supply, shower rooms, refuelling facilities, laundry services and repairs as well as maintenance services," he added.

Furthermore, he said, 400 ha (1,000 acres) will be reclaimed at the north of the NBCT to be developed into container yards and other value added activities like free trade zones, warehousing, logistics, Inland Clearance Depot (ICD), Cold Storage and Halal hub.

According to Ahmad, PPSB will also introduce a fast boat service between the island and the mainland by the end of next year.

"The fast boat, which will be for foot passengers and motorcyclists only, will take half the time for the journey compared to the present ferries that take 15 minutes. We are buying five fast boats to complement the ferry service," he said.

The number of ferries will be reduced from the current eight to five when the fast boat service is introduced and all ferries will eventually be converted to carry only vehicles.

Each fast boat can accommodate 200 passengers and carry up to 50 motorcycles.

"We really hope to get the support of the government in making these projects successful," Ahmad added.

August 16, 2007 16:08 PM

Philips Malaysia To Spur Medical Tourism In NCER

By Massita Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Philips Malaysia sees huge potential in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in terms of spurring medical tourism.

"There is huge potential whenever tourists come in. Wherever tourists are, facilities are available - that would be an ideal thing," its chairman and chief executive officer Dr Rajah Kumar told Bernama recently.

The NCER masterplan, spanning more than 15 years, will see Langkawi and Jerejak islands turning into premium high-end tourist destinations that could cater as well to health tourism.

"Whether Langkawi or any other places up north, I see it as a huge potential for Philips," said Kumar.

"But it is a question of developing the healthcare industry faster so that the medical tourism can benefit."

Philips has just signed an agreement for the installation of the Philips Achieva 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system and Ambient Experience Suite at Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).

The MRI system, costing from about RM10 million, is the first of its kind in Malaysia and second in Asia, and will be operational at SJMC in December.

Commenting on the healthcare industry, Kumar said the RM1 billion industry is growing "very fast," at about six to eight percent a year.

"I think the future growth is going to come from the medical systems segment," he said, adding that the segment is contributing a "substantial portion" to Philips Malaysia.

Philips ranks third in Malaysia's medical systems market and is growing at a double digit rate in the category, said Kumar.

Philips Medical currently accounts for over 20 percent of the Philips Group turnover, up substantially from six percent over the past 10 years.

Meanwhile, SJMC healthcare group chief executive officer Elaine Cheong said the healthcare provider company has plans to open branches in NCER.

"We see NCER as an opportunity for us to go to the north," she said without naming specific locations.

"There are a lot of opportunities for us up north. SJMC is on an expansion plan, so we will be expanding within Malaysia as well as in the Klang Valley itself."

SJMC is a 390-bedded hospital with 89 specialist suites serving 1,600 patients a day. Its 14 operating theatres are equipped to handle a multiplicity of surgical procedures ranging from complex transplants to minimally invasive surgery.

It recently installed Southeast Asia's first 64-slice PET/CT scanner, which is also Asia's fourth installation in the region.

Cheong pointed out that Malaysia offers one of the lowest medical costs in the region together with "competent skills and world class facilities."

-- BERNAMA

Philips? ..Why not Johnson & Johnson!!
But OKlah...

Perak State Assembly: Keen interest in Northern Corridor
NST Online » Local News
2007/08/23


THE massive Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) garnered much interest in the state assembly yesterday.
There were 19 written questions tabled during the question and answer session, and it took Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali almost an hour to answer all the questions in addition to supplementary ones.

Tajol Rosli told the house that Perak had been designated to focus on the development of human capital among the four states under the NCER.

But, he said, the recent launch brought numerous investment queries and opportunities from the other sectors, including manufacturing and tourism.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Hasbullah Osman (BN-Temenggor), he said the project would benefit more than 700,000 people in the four districts involved, namely Kerian, Larut Matang-Selama, Kuala Kangsar and Hulu Perak.
He also said the state has attracted several projects following the launch of the NCER by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

To another question from Rosli Hussin (BN-Trong), Tajol Rosli said a RM15 billion oil refinery project had been approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

"The state government is in discussion with the respective parties concerned on a compromise which might see the company locating its research and development facilities in Kuala Gula, and the refinery in Tanjung Piandang."

Tajol Rosli later told reporters that the state government was also keen on developing the Royal Belum as an eco-tourism attraction with measures already in place to achieve the goal.

"A developer has agreed to take over the Banding Resort with plans to inject RM500 million in 15 years into the area. They have already started with renovation of the resort and recently bought two boats to serve the tourists."

He also said the state had attracted another party interested to set up a resin factory in Parit Buntar, with investment of around RM2 billion when the project was completed.

It is learnt that the project would be located on a 400ha - site and carried out in two phases.

"We shall see what happens next, but these are opportunities which came knocking following the launching of the NCER.

"So we are optimistic of getting the best out of the project as there are numerous possibilities which we can tap into."

Philips? ..Why not Johnson & Johnson!!
But OKlah...

Did i miss something? Something wrong with my company? :lol: :nuts: :jk:

Friday August 24, 2007

Influx of funds from Mideast

Billions expected to be pumped into IDR

By YAP LENG KUEN

PETALING JAYA: Middle East investors are set to make their biggest investments in Malaysia so far in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR).

Industry sources believe it will be a major move that will transform the IDR and more than kick start the region as a serious development.

In the past, Middle East investments in Malaysia have been generally below US$1bil each (except for the US$3bil Saudi Telekom deal with Binariang).

This time, it is believed, billions of dollars will be poured into the IDR, of which little has been said in recent months.

Over the next two to three weeks, major announcements are expected from some of the biggest funds in the world that are holding billions of dollars of oil money.

Among these funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Agency alone has investment assets exceeding US$500bil. The agency is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

The sectors that these investors are eyeing include infrastructure, banking, property, logistics, construction, engineering, tourism, hotels, theme parks and convention centres.

“It looks like a sea change in the mindset of the Middle East investors towards South-East Asia,” said a senior analyst. Malaysia and Singapore appear to be among their favourite destinations as they have pull factors such as an efficient workforce, good laws, infrastructure and banking facilities.

In South Johor, land is considered still cheap and these investors will be buying in a big way. With the first mover advantage, these investors are expected to return to the Middle East and secure partners for the projects.

It will not be a surprise if a sort of Middle Eastern enclave is formed in the commercial centre of South Johor.

StarBiz recently reported that the takeover of Putrajaya Perdana Bhd by a consortium of Middle Eastern, Malaysian and Singaporean investors was a prelude to further acquisitions in corporate Malaysia.

Talk is that the new Middle Eastern owners of Putrajaya Perdana would be buying more construction companies in Malaysia, with the first expected within 60 days.

The companies will be bought in stages and later merged with Putrajaya Perdana for the latter to have sufficient scale to take on jobs not only in this region but also in the Middle East.

“This would be the first step in our larger plan of creating a global construction giant to capitalise on the increasing demand for construction firms globally, especially in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council),” Sheikh Sabah Mohd S. Al-Sabah, a member of the Kuwait’s ruling Al-Sabah family, said in a statement announcing the recent takeover.

A controlling and majority stake in Putrajaya Perdana is being bought for RM390mil in cash by Swan Symphony Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose vehicle owned by the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Investment Corp and Autron Investment, a subsidiary of Singapore and Australian-listed Autron Corp Ltd.

Did i miss something? Something wrong with my company? :lol: :nuts: :jk:

So Boss Ooi, when you plan to move your head quarter to NCER and built a 100 storey building?

COMMENT: The excitement over NCER


THE palpable excitement created by Pak Lah’s four-event launch of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) Masterplan earlier this month may have died down by now, but it surely had left in its wake a heightened sense of expectation, a signal of wonderful things to come that had seemingly bypassed the northern states over the last decade.
Don’t get me wrong, there has been development, but concentrated more further south.

Certainly, Penang had lost its industrial dynamism of the 1970s and 1980s, as with the likes of Mada, Keda, and Perda along with the other regional development initiatives (Dara, Kejora and Kesedar, etc) that were launched with the Third Malaysia Plan (1976-1980), and hogged the third and fourth pages of the local newspapers then.

This time, first with the Iskandar Development Region plan in Johor, and now the second corridor development initiative, the NCER, things are different.

Catching this excitement at the Selinsing event at which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched the Pintar Programme for NCER, I said to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid, group chief executive of Sime Darby Berhad responsible for the design of the NCER Masterplan, "the real hard work now begins"!

The National Implementation Directorate had been working closely with Sime Darby on this high impact corridor development project under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

It is all the more surprising, this anticipation of things to come, since there had previously been, as early as the late 1970s, an inter-governmental Northern Malaysia Development Committee co-ordinated by the Economic Planning Unit that was charged with co-ordinating the development of the northern states.

It may be that in this new version a new administration is driving it. While the Mahathir administration had emphasised and successfully implemented the country’s industrialisation drive in the 1980s and 1990s, which saw the rise of free trade zones in Penang, Sungai Petani and Kamunting (Taiping) and later Kulim in the north, the NCER is another plank fitted to the National Mission Pak Lah launched with the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

There is also the promise of a third masterplan, the Eastern Development Corridor prepared by Petronas waiting to be launched, that will reinforce this new sense of mission to complete the objective of balanced regional growth, and with the Sabah and Sarawak plans to follow.

The prime minister had initiated the regional corridor approach as one of his "signature projects", to achieve a greater spread of development to address in an integrated way imbalances between regional, rural and urban and sectoral incomes and eradicate poverty.

Each of the corridor development initiatives has its unique opportunities and obstacles to overcome.

If the challenge to the Southern Development Region is to take advantage of the regional spillover from Singapore’s growth without surrendering national sovereignty, then the NCER is primed to achieve regional balance among the four northern states.

In doing so, they will overcome the dominance of Penang during the electronics boom of the 1970s and 1980s, and subsequent 1990s "hollowing out" of industrialisation based on cheap labour from the surrounding states, through regional complementarity in the development of the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors in the north.

Indeed, the NCER masterplan had re-emphasised the electric and electronic development core extending from Penang Island through Sungai Petani, Kulim and Taiping in the south.

For the Eastern Corridor, the aim is to take advantage of the evident drive and energy of Petronas in the east coast states so as to ensure greater redound of development benefit to the local population.

The crux of regional, or corridor development, as a strategy is, as development economists and other social scientists had advocated, but in vain, since the 1960s, is that development is more than economic growth.

The gross domestic product-growth "fetish" associated with the ascendancy of market economic ideas informed by the now-defunct Washington Consensus over the last three decades, is currently being replaced by a three-pronged issue of how to develop and finance rural enterprise, enhance non-farm incomes, and improve living standards in sophisticated and complex economies, in an environment dictated by globalisation, liberalisation and national competitiveness.

This strategy is emphasised in a recent Asian Development Bank study, which highlights the downside on the poor of a regionwide boom launched by the post-war rise of Japan and subsequently driven by the dynamic growth of China and India.

Economic growth in the Greater Klang Valley, the Central Development Corridor, if you will, has developed to such an extent that it is possible to declare the Klang Valley a "world region" comparable to Singapore in terms of enterprise, infrastructure, employment and incomes. The three corridor development initiatives are the prime minister’s answer to the over-concentration of development in the central region.

No doubt, you will say, though some will contest, that Malaysia’s great achievements up to this 50th anniversary of our independence have, like the proverbial rising tide, lifted all boats. But many of those boats leak, if you know what I mean.

The answer is not to just plug the leaks — because that is not sustainable in the long run — but, to carry on the analogy, to build more boats (read jobs). That is what I think is the significance of the corridor development strategy being pushed by Pak Lah. Hence the excitement over the NCER announcement.

As I said to Zubir, there’s going to be a lot of hard work. This time around, these masterplans, unlike previous regional "projects" which are a means for federal intervention at the state level or a mechanism to deliver interstate development allocations, are planned and will be largely delivered by the private sector.

In the NCER, of the projected RM177billion capital to be spent until 2025, two-thirds are supposed to come from private injections. Whether under PFI (private-funded initiatives) or direct foreign and domestic investment, this calls for efficiencies and co-ordination between the government and private sectors that reach beyond previous capacities.

The people of the northern states expect no less if they are to benefit from these ambitious and massive development projects.


Datuk Kamal Salih is an adviser to the National Implementation Task Force, a high-level committee which maps out the Regional Development Corridors’ Masterplan.

govt need to hurry up on the double-railway project because that's the key of development throughout the peninsular Malaysia.
imagine we could live in Batu Ferringhi & working in KL, plus people spending distribution could be fair throughout West Malaysia than just focus in Klang Valley.

Intel: We'll continue investing in Penang
By Audrey Dermawan
bt@nstp.com.my

August 28 2007

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Tuesday/Nation/intel27.xml/Article/Current_News/BT/Images/btgraph2/atul.jpg

INTEL Malaysia, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, has reaffirmed its commitment to continue investing in its operations in Penang.

Intel Malaysia's newly-appointed managing director (assembly and test), Atul Bhargava, said Intel will continue to grow in Penang and increase its workforce if the need arises.

"Intel will continue to grow with this country. We will increase our competitive edge by engaging in more value-added activities involving design and development," he said at a ceremony to celebrate Intel Malaysia's 35th anniversary at its facility in Bayan Lepas yesterday.

Also present was Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who later presented a token of appreciation to Intel Malaysia's long-serving employees. They included those who have been with the company since it began operations in Penang in 1972.

Intel is one of eight pioneer multinational companies to commence operations in Penang.

The company has grown from an original workforce of 100 employees to some 10,000 employees.

Also, with a capital investment of more than US$3 billion (RM10.44 billion) to date, Intel has consistently demonstrated its commitment to develop the information technology industry in Malaysia.

Koh said Intel Malaysia's reaffirmed commitment signified the company's vote of confidence in the country's business climate.

Growth potential under NCER
Tuesday August 28, 2007
By K.KASTURI DEWI
TheStar


MULTINATIONAL corporations (MNCs) should consider taking up land which is much cheaper outside Penang for their expansion to grab opportunities made available under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the synergy between Penang, Kedah and Perak under the NCER would also enable Penang to grow and attract new industries.

He said new investors and existing MNCs in Penang that wanted to expand their investment here could consider locating their facilities in places like Kulim, Taiping and Parit Buntar, which are not far from Penang.

“If the state has to allocate about 40.5ha for one MNC to expand, then we will be depriving at least a few SMEs of a chance to develop their business here,” he said yesterday at Intel Malaysia’s 35th anniversary and the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations at Intel’s Penang facility.

Also present were outgoing Intel Malaysia managing director K.C. Yoon and his successor Atul Bhargava.

Earlier, Dr Koh said Intel’s capital investment here, which grew from RM6bil (US1.6mil) in the early 1970s to more than RM11.4bil (US3bil) today, showed Intel’s commitment to developing the Information Technology (IT) industry in Malaysia.

“Intel has not only contributed to the growth of the electronics industry, it has also laid the foundation for continued growth of the IT industry in Penang,” he said.

Yoon in his speech said that 35 years ago, Intel, which has since expanded its presence to Kulim and Cyberjaya, started off with a staff of 100 who were mainly production operators but today, 40% of its 10,000 employees were engineers.

“We could not have achieved this without the strong support and business-friendly policies of the Malaysian Government,” he said.

Bhargava said Intel would increase its competitive edge by engaging in more value-added activities involving design and development.

He also said Intel Malaysia planned to expand its efforts in education, environment and community outreach programmes.

Ten long-serving employees of the company were honoured at the function.

September 02, 2007 17:17 PM

December Launch Of Langkawi Wireless Internet Service


KUAH, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- The resort island of Langkawi is to have wireless Internet service beginning December under a RM4-million Langkawi Multimedia Island project to be implemented in three phases.

Kedah Works, Energy, Environment, Information and Information and Communication Technology Committee Chairman Datuk Nawawi Ahmad said the equipment under the first phase would be installed at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre in Padang Matsirat and Kuah next month.

"The project will involve the installation of 90 antennae in Langkawi and the service will be used during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) 2007 in December," he told reporters after a meeting with school heads and teachers from Langkawi here last night.

Nawawi, who is Kuah state assemblyman, said the project would benefit more than 80,000 residents of the island as well as foreign tourists.

In another development, he said the RM90-million two-lane road between Kuah and the airport at Padang Matsirat would be opened by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid soon.

-- BERNAMA

UUM establishes research centre to boost NCER growth
BERNAMA

SINTOK, SUN:

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) has set up a research centre for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to help the Kedah government boost economic growth in the area.

UUM Chancellor Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzah

Shah, who announced this at UUM’s 20th convocation today, said the establishment of the centre would be a more meaningful contribution to Kedah’s economic growth.

He suggested coordination between the Kedah government and UUM so that the university could be the prime mover in handling research, especially on the impact of the development of the NCER.

“I want to see UUM become the pace setter and prime mover, not merely a loyal follower,” he said.

He said UUM’s capabilities in producing quality human capital in education, research and technology management was an asset which should be utlised by the state government to share expertise in ensuring developement of the NCER.

The Sultan said the focus should be on economy, social, financial management, property, service industry, tourism and agriculture as well as the effects of NCER development on the low-income earners.

A total of 2,376 graduands, including 1,040 foreign students from Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei, will receive their scrolls during the three-day convocation which began today.

Abdullah to keep tabs on all NCER projects
Tuesday September 4, 2007
TheStar


http://www.thestar.com.my/archives/2007/9/4/nation/04raja.jpg

For posterity: Abdullah and the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin looking
at a framed picture of the Prime Minister receiving his award at Istana Arau
yesterday. With them are the Raja Perempuan of Perlis Tuanku Fauziah
Tengku Abdul Rashid and Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah.

KANGAR: All projects under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) will be personally monitored by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“I want to make sure that the projects are running smoothly and the enthusiasm is sustained right till the end and not just at the time of launching,” the Prime Minister said.

“I will monitor each and every project in every state.

“It is our responsibility to the people to ensure every programme is competed,” he said when addressing senior government servants and state political and community leaders at Putra Palace Hotel here yesterday.

He also called on government officers and agencies to ensure government projects were implemented well.

Abdullah warned the gathering that any pact by anyone must be positive and constructive in nature.

“Do not form a pact to fight or look for trouble. God wants us to work together to promote things that are beneficial to the society.

“This is also outlined in the Islam Hadhari concept,” he said.

Later, referring to a statement by Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim that certain quarters were constantly criticising government projects, Abdullah said those who were in denial of the prosperity bestowed by God were an ungrateful lot.

He said the country's independence would be meaningless without development and progress.

“We have the critical mass to help us soar to greater heights,” he said, adding that it was important to focus on human capital development and value-added initiatives.

Earlier in the morning, the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail conferred the Datuk Seri Di Raja Bendahara Negara award on Abdullah at a special investiture at Istana Arau, near here.

The Prime Minister is the first recipient of the award which was introduced last year.

NCER sector reports to be completed, bill ready for tabling by Dec
Updated : 06-09-2007
Media : The Edge


PUTRAJAYA: The Northern Corridor Economic Region's (NCER) consultants sector reports are expected to be completed, and a bill to form the implementation authority will be tabled before Parliament by December, said Sime Darby Bhd's group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid.

He said the consultants had been engaged to provide detailed plans for each of the four key sectors agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and human capital.

When we launched the NCER in late August, we made public the blueprint which outlined the general principles, target areas and some benchmarks.

Now the consultants are working on detailed strategies for each sector, and taking into account the feedback we have received, he told some 100 senior federal and state government officials at an implementation and action plan meeting here yesterday. Sime Darby is the master architect of the NCER.

He said the consultants Rabobank for agriculture, KPMG for tourism and the Boston Consulting Group for manufacturing and human capital would complete their detailed reports on each sector by December.

NCER was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on July 30. The long-term plan covers Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak. It is aimed at unleashing the economic potential of the north and elevating the people's income levels.

The plan involves turning the north into the country's modern food production zone, a manufacturing hub and a world-class tourism destination.

While Sime Darby was given the task of master planning of the NCER, the job of implementing the project will be in the hands of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA).

Ahmad Zubir said the process of setting up the NCIA was moving along well, and the bill would be tabled in December, with the body expected to be set up early next year.

The ground work to build up the capacity of the NCIA has already started. By December, a full team would have been recruited for the implementation authority. This means that when the NCIA is set up, everyone can hit the ground running, he said.

Ahmad Zubir said once the NCIA had been set up, Sime Darby would hand over the NCER project to the authority, and would revert to being an investor.

He said to date, Sime Darby had identified several projects in the northern corridor, which it would spearhead. These include the US$10 million (RM35 million) seeds academy in Perlis and the Premier Industrial Park in Kedah.

Raja Perlis Wants NCER To Be Top Economic Growth Area
September 10, 2007 21:32 PM

KANGAR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail wants the North Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to emerge as the top economic development area in South East Asia.

He said this could be achieved if all involved in the implementation of the project play their role effectively.

The NCER covered Perlis, Kedah, Penang and north Perak and was proof that the government was continually striving to develop the country and make it competitive globally, he said when opening the State Assembly here today.

The Raja of Perlis also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who always gave full co-operation to the development of Perlis.

He was confident that the agriculture sector would be given special focus because it was the main economic contributor in the rural areas.

Furthermore, Perlis has a fertile agricultural land.

He said research in the agriculture sector should be carried out aggressively to ensure quality products could be produced.

Similar aggressive research should also be done in aquaculture, tourism and manufacturing.

He however felt concerned at the people's over-dependence on the government and warned that this attitude could adversely affect the country.

-- BERNAMA

All set to take on NCER MB: State departments performing well
Wednesday September 12, 2007
TheStar


ALOR STAR: Kedah is ready to take on the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) projects, which will start next year.

Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said this observation was based on the improvement in work performance showed by the state secretariat personnel at Wisma Darulaman.

He said work performance reports on all departments, including the state Economic Planning Unit and Treasury showed an improvement since early this year.

For example, he said some departments managed to complete their tasks within the designated time frame and some completed days before the deadline.

“Although the performance is good, we still have room for improvement,” he said when met after addressing the personnel at Wisma Darulaman during its monthly assembly yesterday.

Mahdzir said the personnel must work closely and maintain the integrity of their department and the state government’s image.

He said all department heads at Wisma Darulaman must also handle complaints or criticisms made against the departments and take measures to address the complaints.

Latest:
Manipal to invest in Malaysia
By Zaidi Isham Ismail
bt@nstp.com.my


September 12 2007


THE Manipal Education and Medical Group International of India, Asia's largest healthcare management group, is coming to Malaysia next month.

It will set up its first hospital in Penang and a stem cell research and development centre in Bukit Jalil Technology Park.

Malaysian Biotechnology Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said the group will invest an initial US$5 million (RM17.6 million) for phase one and subsequent investments for the later phases will depend on the requirements at that time.

"Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis will be officiating at the ground breaking ceremony on October 17," Iskandar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after launching a biotechnology entrepreneurship conference.

Iskandar said the business deal was a result of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed during BIO 2007, the world's largest annual biotechnology convention and exhibition held in Boston, the US, in May.

The Malaysian delegation to BIO 2007 was led by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Under the MOU, a Manipal Group subsidiary will be established in Malaysia to spearhead stem-cell research.

The deal follows a deal forged last month between the Malaysian government and US biotechnology firm Actis Biologics Inc which will invest as much as US$400 million (RM1.41 billion) to set up operations in Malacca.

Malaysia wants to become a regional biotechnology hub to get a slice of the lucrative market. The world's 5,000 biotech firms, of which 70 per cent are in the US, are forecast to make over US$1 trillion (RM3.52 trillion) of revenue by 2015.

The Manipal Group of companies, named after a university town in southern India, is a major financial and industrial group managing 11 hospitals, eight teaching hospitals, seven rural maternity and child welfare homes and also has activities spread over financial services and manufacturing.

The Manipal Healthcare Group owns internationally renowned hospitals such as the Manipal Hospital in Bangalore and Kasturba Hospital in Manipal.

Manipal is also a centre of academic learning, comprising two universities, 24 professional colleges, affiliated institutes and numerous primary and high schools with 70,000 graduate students.

It is also home to Syndicate Bank, a leading bank in India and hi-tech industries like Manipal Dot Net and the Karnataka Microelectronics Design Centre.

Agro-Based Mara Educational Institution For NCER
September 26, 2007 00:44 AM


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- An agro-based Mara educational institution will be built in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to produced more skilled manpower in the field.

Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the focus given was due to the NCER being largely an agriculture area with high poverty and school dropout rates.

"We want to create highly skilled people who can activate the agriculture sector," he said at the signing of an agreement for consultancy services between Yayasan Pelajaran Mara (Mara Education Foundation) and the Japanese University Consortium for Transnational-Education (JUCTE) here today.

YPM chairman Datuk Rosli Mat Hassan signed the agreement on behalf of the foundation while JUCTE was represented by its chairman Prof Dr Watanabe Toshio.

The agreement was for the appointment of JUCTE as facilitator for YPM in coordinating the entry of Malaysian students into Japanese universities.

Mohamed Khaled also said that Mara and the cooperative body under his ministry would help to activate the agriculture industry in the NCER.

He said the decision was reached at the NCER Plan Implementation meeting with the NCER working committee headed by the Prime Minister's special adviser for the NCER, Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini, at the ministry in Putrajaya this morning.

-- BERNAMA

Perlis To Cut Red Tape To Facilitate NCER Implementation
September 26, 2007 18:36 PM


KANGAR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Perlis has vowed to cut red tape to ensure the successful implementation of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in the state.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said he would personally step in if it was found that the project was mired in bureaucracy.

Speaking to reporters after receiving NCER Adviser to the Prime Minister, Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini, here today, he said the development push need not necessarily start with the construction of buildings as its other components were equally important.

"Under the NCER, we'll be focusing our efforts to make Perlis a centre for high-quality seed production. To this end, a facility will be built in Kampung Surau in Utan Aji near here," he said.

Shahidan said continuous efforts would be made to explain the NCER project so that the people of Perlis could fully grasp its objectives, such as to provide more business opportunities and jobs.

He said that among the issues discussed with Mohd Annuar, who is also Bernama chairman, is a proposal to set up the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) which is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in December.

"Perlis has made several suggestions with regard to the NCIA," he said without going into the details.

Shahidan expressed hope that the NCER would lure investors to the state.

-- BERNAMA

Kedah Gives Nod To NCER Bill, Says Mahdzir
September 26, 2007 16:38 PM


ALOR STAR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- The Kedah Government has agreed in principle to the Bill for the setting up of the implementation authority for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Parliament in December.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, who was briefed on the Bill today, however, said, the state government would propose some amendments on certain matters.

"Basically, the contents of the draft Bill does not need much changess. It will be submitted in two weeks," he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting.

Mahdzir said the state government agreed to the draft Bill as it did not usurp the powers or the roles of the special committee set up by the state government to oversee NCER covering Perlis, Kedah, Penang and north Perak.

He said the proposed implementation authority would focus more on work coordination.

NCER Adviser to the Prime Minister Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini said the briefing was held to gather feedback from state governments involved in the economic corridor project.

"Kedah seems to strongly support the proposed Bill," he told Bernama.

-- BERNAMA

Perak Has No Objection In Accepting Draft Of NCIA Bill
September 24, 2007 17:09 PM

IPOH, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- The Perak state government has no objection in accepting a draft of the bill to form the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER)'s implementing agency which would be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in parliament in December.

Perak state secretary Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim said although the draft of the bill to form the Northern Corridor Implementing Agency (NCIA) would be accepted, it would be presented to relevant bodies and endorsed at the next state executive council meeting first.

"What is good about the bill is in terms of its spirit, that it does not erode the power vested to the states. So this is the overriding rule or principle of this act.

"So as long as the rule is not going to eradicate or erode the power of the state, I believe the state government (Perak) will not have any problem in accepting the bill," he told reporters after attending a meeting on the draft of the bill at Darul Ridzuan building here today.

He said the Perak local authorities in NCER would operate as usual after the formation of NCIA which was expected to be early next year after the bill was passed in parliament.

Abdul Rahman said the Perak Enconomic Planning Unit (Upen) would assist NCIA in getting the necessary approvals from the local councils involved.

The Prime Minister's special advisor on the NCER Datuk Mohd Annuar Zaini said he received positive response and cooperation from the state governments concerned which had given their feedback and counter proposals in fine-tuning the draft of the bill.

He said he was encouraged by the urgency or speed given by the state governments to the project which reflected their commitment.

"This shows they are all committed to see the success of our plan (in tabling the bill). This is very encouraging," he said.

Mohd Annuar said he had discussed the bill with the Penang state government last Thursday and would be meeting the Kedah and Perlis state governments on Wednesday.

Launched by Abdullah on July 30, NCER which covered Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak was aimed at enhancing the economic potentials of the peninsular's northern region.

-- BERNAMA

seems the only objection we heard sp far is the one coming from people living around Batu Gantong. Typical Penangites.

NST Online:

PORR: Tender for road project by next year
01 October, 2007

GEORGE TOWN: The government will begin calling for open tenders for the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) project early next year. Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the prime minister wanted the project implemented as soon as possible.

“So, once the tender is awarded, we can begin work immediately,” he said after presenting funds to 197 mosques and 325 surau throughout the state at Masjid Negeri on Jalan Air Itam yesterday.

The RM1.2 billion PORR project is one of three significant projects in the state under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The other two are the Second Penang Bridge and the Penang Monorail system.

“Our focus in the state is on transportation. We have successfully launched the RapidPenang bus services and everyone is happy with it. Now, we will work on PORR, the Penang Monorail and the Second Penang Bridge,” said Nor Mohamed.

The monorail project, which is to serve as the backbone of the state's public transportation network, is expected to be launched by the end of this year.

Construction of the Second Penang Bridge, a signature project under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and a major catalyst for economic growth and investment in the Northern Corridor Economic Region, has already started and is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

At yesterday's function, Nor Mohamed presented each mosque and surau with RM500 and RM300, respectively.

The allocation is for the mosques and surau to hold moreh, a small feast after the Tarawih prayers nightly during Ramadan.

Permatang Kerai Kecil surau representative Abu Bakar Ishal received the donations on behalf of the mosques and surau.

Also present were Penang Khariah Association chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Yusof Latif, Penang Islamic Religious Council president Shahbudin Yahaya, Permatang Pauh Umno division chief Datuk Abd Jalil Abd Majid and Bukit Mertajam Umno division chief Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

i'm not sure they are serious this time....

they won't serious lar, always hau siao one.

^^ i guess with the recent launch of the NCER, they will just have to be serious about it as Abdullah's reputation will be on the line.. remember elections akan datang :lol:

Kedah seeks extra lanes for CIQ complex
Tuesday October 2, 2007
TheStar


KEDAH has submitted a re- quest to the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department for additional lanes to be built for commercial vehicles at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in Bukit Kayu Hitam.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said there was now only one lane for commercial vehicles which resulted in each vehicle taking up to four hours to get across the border.

He said the additional lanes would reduce the waiting time, adding that some 800 commer-cial vehicles crossed the border daily.

“The location for the lanes will be identified by both the Malaysian and Thai govern-ments,” he told newsmen after presenting raya cookies from Kedah Wanita Umno to army and police personnel in Bukit Kayu Hitam yesterday.

Mahdzir said it would cost about RM140mil to build the additional lanes on the Malay-sian side but did not spe- cify how many lanes would be built.

October 03, 2007 16:28 PM

Development Of Kampung Tanjung Tokong To Start Mid 2008


PENANG, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Work to develop Kampung Tanjung Tokong would start by the middle of next year after 251 families were relocated to a temporary settlement by year end, making way for the first phase of development.

UDA Holdings Bhd managing director, Datuk Jaafar Abu Hassan said development of a new township at the site of the last Malay kampung in Georgetown costing between RM800 million and RM1 billion would change the entire landscape of the Tanjung Tokong beach front.

"Development of the area would be done carefully so as not to impact the environment of the Malay community who had settled there for a long time," he told reporters at a breaking of fast by UDA Land (North) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of UDA Holdings, with 170 orphans here last night.

He added 180 transit houses would be ready by the end of this month so that the villagers could move during the school holiday by year end. "Development of the 29.4 hectare area involved the Kampung Tanjung Tokong site, reclamation land and some affordable homes. A commercial area will also be developed for the benefit of the local people."

Jaafar said development of Tanjung Tokong involved four phases and slated for completion in four phases between eight and ten years.

Focus of development would be along the beach from Tanjung Tokong to Tanjung Bungah where tourism development projects would be carried out.

Kampung Tanjung Tokong which retained its traditional kampung charm but with haphazard buildings had even been criticised by then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed during one of his visits to Penang several years ago.

Jaafar hoped that all 830 families involved with the development project could be relocated to flats with a floor area of 850 sq metre each, equipped with modern facilities.

"We hope the Malay community in the area can live in a better, comfortable clean and well-planned environment."  On the protest by several kampung folk over the development project, he was confident that all the problems could be resolved once the entire project was completed.

"Other than the original house owners, their children with families will also get their own houses," he added.

-- BERNAMA

October 17, 2007 17:11 PM

Seagate: We'll Continue To Invest In Penang


PENANG, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Seagate Technology, which designs, manufactures and markets hard disc drives, has assured of continued investments in Malaysia due to the increased demand for the drives globaly.

Its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Charles C. Pope, said based on the current situation and the projected 11-15 percent growth in 2008, the company plans to make more capital investment in its Penang plant next year to cater for the increasing demand in disc drives.

As the main centre for recording heads facilities, Penang is poised to support the global demand for the bigger internet storage, he said.

In a teleconference with reporters today, Pope said the reinvestment will not be in terms of new buildings but rather in the facilities and technology.

He did not reveal the amount of the intended reinvestment. Seagate has invested RM2.2 billion in Malaysia since 1988.

Pope said the company shipped out 47 million units of disc drive in the quarter ended September and earned a revenue of US$3.3 billion (US$1=RM3.4).

"Our strong performance in the quarter reflects favourable industry conditions as well as the competitive strength of Seagate's unique platform and commitment to innovation," he said.

"The first fiscal quarter has historically been a strong one for Seagate, and this year we benefited from unit demand greater than expected.

"We believe we are well positioned to continue driving year-over-year revenue growth, and these record quarterly results demonstrate the effectiveness of Seagate's business model."

Noting that Seagate had shipped out 7.5 million mobile computing units during the quarter, Pope said the demand had increased as the household choice is no longer the desktop.

For the December quarter, he said, Seagate is expected to report revenue of US$3.4-3.5 billion.



-- BERNAMA

Seagate increasing investments in Penang

By DAVID TAN

PENANG: Seagate Technology Inc is increasing investments for its operations in Penang, which produces the read and write heads for hard disk drives.

Group executive vice president and chief financial officer Charles Pope said that Seagate was expecting an increase between 11% and 15% in the demand for hard disk drives for next year.

"Penang is the largest facility that we have to design, process, and fabricate read and write heads used in enterprise, mobile, and desktop market segments.

"That is why we are investing to add more production lines to the facility in Penang," he said.

Seagate currently monopolises a 37% market share of the global hard disk drive market.

However, Pope did not elaborate on the quantum of the increase.

Last December, Seagate announced that it would allocate RM800mil for the Penang operations for the next five years.

The Penang facility, located on a 4.9ha site, employs 3,350 employees.

"We are seeing a rapid rise in the demand for the 2.5-inch hard disk drives for the mobile market and the 3.5-inch hard disk drives for the external drive market.

"In December, due to festive holidays, Seagate expects to see a strong surge in the demand for its external and hybrid hard disk drives.

"We have just introduced the hybrid hard disk drive, which combines the use of flash memory to deliver ultra power efficiency, faster boot-ups and greater reliability for the exploding laptop PC market.

"We shipped out 100,000 units of hybrid hard disk drives recently to our customers worldwide," he said.

Pope said Seagate expected, however, factors related to credit tightening to have an impact on the sales of hard disk drives in 2008.

For the first quarter ended September, Seagate posted US$355mil in net income on the back of US$3.3bil revenue.

From SAN JOSE in California the AP reported that Seagate Technology, the world's largest maker of hard drives, on Tuesday (Wednesday in Malaysia) reported a stronger-than-expected profit for its fiscal first quarter, as demand drove up its sales 18 percent.

Net income for the quarter that ended Sept. 28 grew to $355 million (euro250.88 million), or 64 cents per share, more than 21 times the year-ago period's earnings of $19 million (euro13.43 million), or 3 cents per share.

Excluding about $30 million (euro21.2 million) of amortization and other charges associated with its acquisitions of Maxtor and EVault, Seagate earned 69 cents per share in the latest period, beating Wall Street's expectations of adjusted earnings of 64 cents per share, according to poll of analysts by Thomson Financial.

Revenue climbed to $3.29 billion (euro2.33 billion) from $2.79 billion (euro1.97 billion) in the year-earlier quarter.

Analysts were projecting revenue of $3.22 billion (euro2.28 billion).

In August, Seagate raised its outlook for the first quarter, due to favorable supply and demand conditions and a better product mix, forecasting profit of 57 cents to 61 cents per share on revenue of $3.15 billion (euro2.23 billion) to $3.25 billion (euro2.3 billion).

The company said it shipped a record 47 million disk drives in the quarter, up 21 percent from the year-ago period.

"We had a strong July quarter and then by this quarter, everything was sold out across the board,'' Seagate CEO Bill Watkins said in an interview Tuesday.

The gamut ranged from computers for consumers and businesses to game consoles and digital video recorders.

Disk drives for laptop computers were particularly strong, with Seagate shipping a record 7.9 million units, up 87 percent from the year-ago quarter.

A year ago, 750-gigabyte hard drives were not even available. In the fiscal first quarter, Seagate said it sold 1.5 million of them. "Everyone wants bigger hard drives now,'' Watkins said.

Watkins predicted the entire hard drive industry will end up reporting a shipment total of 132 million drives for the last quarter, reflecting a 15 percent increase from the previous year.

For the quarter ending in December, Seagate said it expects to report earnings of 66 cents to 70 cents per share on sales of $3.4 million (euro2.4 million) to $3.5 billion (euro2.47 billion).

On an adjusted basis excluding one-time items, Seagate expects earnings per share to be 71 cents to 75 cents - higher than the estimate of 69 cents per share that analysts polled by Thomson Financial were projecting.

Shares of Seagate closed at $26.45 (euro18.69), down 44 cents, but gained 54 cents, more than 2 percent, in extended trading following the news.

The company is based in the Cayman Islands but operates out of Scotts Valley.

Government To Spend RM120 Mln For Halal Park In Every State

ALOR STAR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The government has allocated RM120 million for the setting up of Halal parks in every state, Halal Industry Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (HDC) chief executive officer Datuk Jamil Bidin said Sunday.

He said the Halal parks in every state would have their own "specialties" and strengths so that they would not compete with each other.

Jamil said the national master plan on Halal industry, of which HDC has been entrusted to develop it, would be completed by year-end.

Speaking at the 2007 Halal Industry Development seminar here, Jamil said Malaysia's Halal products were dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) currently but sadly many of the products could not penetrate the sophisticated customers and global market.

He said only RM300 million worth of Halal products were supplied to Tesco last year despite the retail giant willingness to source about RM1.0 billion from Malaysian entrepreneurs.

Jamil said neighbouring country Thailand was far more advanced in term of Halal production and they had exported US$6.8 billion worth of poultry to Middle East last year.

Meanwhile, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid when met by reporters after opening the seminar said the state government was in the midst to establish a Halal Industrial Hub costing about RM15 million at the Taman Ria Industrial Area in Sungai Petani.

He said the hub would be the catalyst for the Halal-based production under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Mahdzir said the hub, which will house 30 units of factories for leasing, is expected to commence operation in early 2009.

-- BERNAMA

November 12, 2007 13:19 PM

Projects Worth RM360 Mln At Tok Bali To Attract Investors To ECER


PASIR PUTEH, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The federal government will implement projects worth RM360 million to attract the private sector to invest in marine-based projects under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) at Tok Bali in Semerak near here.

State Assemblyman for Semerak Datuk Kamaruddin Mohd Noor said they are the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) Complex worth RM200 million and construction of the Pasir Puteh-Tok Bali road costing RM60 million.

"A MARA Skills Institute (IKM) costing RM100 million which will focus on marine engineering is also being planned," he told reporters at an Aidilfitri gathering organised by the Pasir Puteh National Tekun Foundation (Tekun) on Sunday.

Kamaruddin, who is also Pasir Puteh Umno chief, said several areas had been identified for the IKM project, which will cover 20 hectares.

They include Kampung Tasek and in the area around the Semerak tidal control gate.

-- BERNAMA

(Err haze, ^^ this is NCER thread not ECER.)

BTW it is the same news with my previous post.

Sungai Petani to be halal hub

ALOR STAR: Kedah is setting up a halal industrial area in Sungai Petani.

The state has allocated RM15mil to build 30 factory buildings to be rented out to entrepreneurs producing halal products.

The halal hub is expected to begin operations in 2009. The project will be undertaken by the Kedah Development Corp and will include a cold storage facility and packaging factory.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the state government had identified 80.9ha of land in Aman Jaya for the halal industrial park.

He was speaking to newsmen after opening the Halal Industry Seminar organised by Halal Development Corp Sdn Bhd (HDC) yesterday.

HDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Finance Ministry, placed under the National Implementation Task Force. The one-day seminar was attended by 100 entrepreneurs in the halal food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Mahdzir said the state had allocated RM10mil to upgrade facilities at the Kedah BioResources Corp Sdn Bhd (Kedah BioCorp) to allow more studies to be conducted on halal products.

HDC CEO Datuk Jamil Bidin said the Federal Government had allocated RM120mil for the development of halal industrial parks.

The HDC, he added, would provide a blueprint for the states to follow, covering requirements for halal certification as well as the quality and production process for products.

“We are proud that Kedah has the capability to conduct research and study on halal products at Kedah BioCorp. HDC will help to promote Kedah BioCorp to other local companies and foreign companies who are interested in using its expertise,” he said.

Jamil said the world halal market provided opportunities worth billions of ringgit to producers and Malaysians had potential to be key players.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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SP
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www.kejora.com.my Bandar aman jaya
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www.spkb.net ambangan Heights
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www.emico.com.my Bandar mutiara
www.asiatic.com.my Permaipura
www.hunzagroup.com.my bkt Bayu

nice and i'm looking 4 AS's.but please ...no need to keep posting the same things. :yes:

Abedeen Resort set to open its doors

By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD

KEPALA BATAS: The hometown of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will have a new landmark when the five-star Abedeen Resort opens its door in January.

Construction work on the 323-room resort on 25ha was complete and only some infrastructure work, including road construction was left, said Unik Terbilang Sdn Bhd group managing director Abdul Wahid Mahbut.

A wholly bumiputra-owned company, Unik Terbilang owns the resort.

Wahid said besides five-star accommodation and facilities, the resort also offered three- and four-star room packages.

“Under the five-star Perdana Villa, we have 32 suites including four presidential suites. There are 131 rooms under the Perdana Resort four-star category while Idaman Resort offers 160 three-star rooms.

“The resort design is based on Malay traditional architectural style.

“We want our guests to feel the Malay heritage ambience when they stay in the resort,” he said at the resort’s Hari Raya open house on Saturday.

The resort is expected to be opened by the Prime Minister in February.

Wahid said Unik Terbilang expected 60% to 70% occupancy at the resort when it was fully operational.

He also said the resort would have a water theme park that would be opened to the public.

Talk on NCER in Penang
THE SUN
Friday, 16 November 2007

RESIDENTS up north, particularly in Penang, will get to know more about the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) at a free seminar organised by Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd and Penangbased HCK Technology & Information Services. The speaker will be Ho Chin Soon (pix), director of Ho Chin Soon Research. To be held on Nov 28 at Cititel Hotel in Upper Penang Road, the talk will be beneficial to locals as well as real estate professionals including developers, property valuers, agents, town planners and architects.

Issues to be addressed include how the NCER would stake up to another government-driven initiative in the form of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), that was launched earlier, as well as the Klang Valley. Launched by the Prime Minister in July, the NCER is a development initiative that is expected to draw investments worth over RM170 billion from now till 2025. It was identified as one of the areas to generate the country’s economic growth under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The NCER socio-economic blueprint will cover Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

“The NCER is the main focus of the talk and I’m sure the locals are interested to know how such a massive development will benefit them. There are also concerns on whether the IDR will pose a competition to the NCER,” says Ho. He cites the example of foreigners who want to invest here but are unsure which project to go for since both NCER and IDR are located within Peninsular Malaysia. Ho will also identify areas in the NCER that will be worth investing in for the real estate market during his session.

Another highlight of the seminar will be the focus on Penang island. Ho says real estate activities tend to be concentrated on the island which already has a population of more than one million people. “Projects on the island bring the highest returns including yields and capital appreciation,” he adds.

:omg: Is that true??!!

RM1.13bil deficit budget for Kedah next year ;)

http://trade.tourism.gov.my/tradeToolbox/images/mapResources/map_kedah.jpg

By EMBUN MAJID

ALOR STAR: The state tabled a RM1.13bil deficit budget for next year focusing on improving living quality, the state delivery system and environment.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, when tabling the budget at the state assembly sitting, said RM502mil was allocated for operational expenditure; RM277mil for development and RM348mil for water supply.

The deficit for next year was RM17.9mil compared to RM19mil this year, he said, adding that the expected revenue next year was RM484,955,785.

The state had allocated RM61.5mil to improve the roads and bridges in the rural areas. The allocation increased by RM3mil compared to RM58.5mil this year.

Mahdzir said RM10mil would be allocated for local authorities, especially the Alor Star City Council to improve their services.

he state has allocated RM3.9mil to improve the information technology facilities to help improve work performance by staff under the state’s jurisdiction," he said.

The state also allocated RM1mil to conduct trainings for civil servants.

Equal development for states under NCER

Projects slated for implementation under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) will equally benefit the four states covered in the corridor development, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Refuting claims that only Penang stood to benefit from NCER, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Suliman said Perlis, Kedah, Penang and north Perak would equally reap the benefits from the economic spin-offs from the projects.

He said every state also had its core projects and programmes to be carried out over the next 20 years.

“Although most of the infrastructure development projects are in Penang, it is not true that NCER gives priority only to Penang. Other states also have their core projects in the agriculture, tourism and human capital development sectors,” he said.

He was replying to Datuk Mahadzir Mohd Khir (BN-Sungai Petani) who wanted to know how the government would ensure balanced development in the four states under the NCER to avoid some states becoming the “backyard” of Penang.

Abdul Rahman said logistics infrastructure network drawn up under the NCER master plan would have direct impact on creation of new economic activities in rural areas in the four states.

“In fact, the move to modernise the agriculture sector by providing the required infrastructures will give added advantage to farmers and entrepreneurs of small industries to expand their businesses,” he said.

Abdul Rahman said Sime Darby, the lead agency which drew up the NCER master plan, was currently working on detailed sectoral plans for the areas under the corridor development.

He said every state has been specified their core projects to avoid competing with one another but to complement each other to realise the NCER objectives.

Sime Darby Urged To Participate Actively In Growth Corridors
November 28, 2007 21:48 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Multinational conglomerate, Sime Darby Bhd, can play a greater role to help boost the development of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) as well as other growth corridors.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said with its huge resources, the newly-merged entity could participate more actively via commercial investments as well as through corporate social responsibility activities.

"I hope that as the implementation of these corridors begin to unfold, you will continue to take an active interest in the said region," Abdullah said at the launch of Synergy Drive's new name -- Sime Darby Bhd -- and logo, here today.

Synergy Drive, a special-purpose vehicle, was formed in November 2006 for the merger of three plantation giants -- Guthrie Group, Sime Darby Bhd and Golden Hope Plantation Bhd.

Sime Darby will be the largest listed company on Bursa Malaysia, with an expected market capitalisation of more than RM50 billion.

Abdullah said the company must always bear in mind that a global champion must never forget its roots.

"The idea of sustainability implies that it will play its part in promoting corporate social responsibility. With its large land bank, I hope the conglomerate will consider building communities for the less privileged," he added.

He also commended the group's steps to scale the greater heights to become a global champion instead of a mere 'jaguh kampung'.

"Most importantly, you have set your ambitions high. Instead of settling for a comfortable existence, you are willing to push the boundaries, to test yourself against the very best," he said.

Before the merger, Sime Darby was tasked with drawing up the blueprint for the NCER.

-- BERNAMA

by Ellina Badri
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com


KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwait Finance House Malaysia Bhd wants to strengthen its foothold in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) with its foray into a property development project in Penang.

Inking a deal yesterday with Corner Side Realty Sdn Bhd (CSRSB) to provide a RM74.4 million Mudharabah financing facility for the latter’s The Sanctuary residential project in Penang, KFHMB managing director Datuk K Salman Younis said the bank had already made headway into the NCER by financing several projects there.

“We are already involved in financing a number of companies who are involved in other contracting areas, such as the construction of the (Second Penang) bridge and other infrastructure,” he told reporters after the signing of the deal with CSRSB here yesterday.

Salman said: “We are currently looking at other industries, especially on the SME side. We are a universal bank, we don’t go after selected segments. We cover most of the segments in the Malaysian economy and even finance the start-ups.”

He said the bank hoped to increase its involvement in Penang, particularly with the NCER acting as a catalyst for the economy there. KFHMB had recently announced it would set up a bank branch in the northern state in the first quarter of next year.

Salman also said the bank was interested in bringing its auto operating lease model into Malaysia from Kuwait.

The bank owns several auto dealerships in its home market, leasing vehicles to its customers. However, Salman said KFHMB could not bring the leasing model here for now due to the “issue of approved permits.”

He added consumers would greatly benefit if the leasing model were brought here as it would result in large cost savings in vehicle purchases.

Under its deal with CSRSB, any profit arising on the sale of 30 bungalows on a 5.3ha site, part of CSRSB’s 11.3ha residential project, The Sanctuary, will be distributed between KFHMB and CSRSB on a pre-determined profit sharing ratio.

Prima Prai group managing director Datuk Mohd Ramzan Ibrahim said the project, located in Batu Uban, Penang, had an estimated gross development value of RM500 million comprising 689 units of luxurious bungalows, semi-detached homes, town villas and high-end condominiums within a gated community.

He said CSRSB had a 48.6ha land bank, mostly in Penang and including a 0.8ha site in Mont’Kiara, adding the company would launch several residential, commercial and hospitality projects over the next two years.

He said the company had just been granted approval to develop a retirement home on a 48.6ha site in Pahang and it would launch a resort development project in Australia in early 2009. ^^

i wonder why johor become metropolis but the northern region remain as paddy field?:ohno:

brother, did u ever visit northen region ???

brother, did u ever visit northen region ???

Yeah go and have a look at Penang yourself rather than indulge in sheer ignorance. For your information, Penang average income is higher than Johor and the state accounts for at least half of the country exports in electronic products. Johor by the way is far from being a Metropolis and it is mere proxy to Singapore that is infested with crime

Megamall, i have something to ask u before i raise my voice in here, may u define your sentence and further your explanation pls????

5 projek mega naik nilai tanah Pulau Jerjak
Oleh Faiza Zainudin

GEORGETOWN: Lima projek mega bernilai bilion ringgit di kawasan Pantai Jerjak yang dijangka siap dalam tempoh 10 tahun, bakal meletakkan kawasan itu dalam kedudukan bernilai tinggi dari segi permintaan dan pasaran.

Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri kawasan itu, Wong Mun Hoe, berkata projek mega berkenaan akan mengubah persisiran laut Batu Maung yang bakal menjadi laluan utama ke jambatan kedua sebagai lokasi tumpuan pelancong.

Beliau berkata, kawasan tepi pantai itu akan dibangunkan sebagai pusat rekreasi dan membeli-belah yang menawarkan pelbagai kemudahan termasuk restoran bagi menarik tumpuan orang ramai berkunjung.



"Selain itu, usaha untuk mendirikan bangunan 18 tingkat di sekitar Sunshine Square sebagai kawasan koridor raya multimedia juga sedang dirancang.

"Ia bakal menarik pelaburan asing dan tempatan ke kawasan ini yang menyediakan kemudahan internet jalur lebar dan teknologi maklumat berkelajuan tinggi," katanya di sini, kelmarin.

Wong berkata selain pembangunan kawasan sekitar perindustrian dan perniagaan komersil itu, pembangunan di Pulau Jerjak juga tidak dilupakan.

"Ia akan dibangunkan sebagai pusat pelancongan perubatan sejajar dengan hasrat kerajaan dalam Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER).

"Secara tidak langsung, pulau itu akan mempunyai kemudahan hotel, hospital dan calet bagi memenuhi keperluan pesakit dan pelancong, tidak lama lagi," katanya.

Beliau berkata, dua projek terbengkalai sejak 20 tahun lalu, juga akan dibangunkan semula menjadi kompleks membeli-belah Bayan Mall dan Penang Jaya.

"Semua projek ini yang akan dimulakan tidak lama lagi secara berperingkat-peringkat akan siap dalam tempoh masa antara lima hingga 10 tahun.

"Ia akan meletakkan kawasan ini sebagai kawasan tumpuan kerana rangkaian pengangkutan moden juga bersambung di kawasan ini termasuk Lebuhraya Lingkaran Luar (BORR)," katanya.

Beliau berkata, sebagai satu-satunya kawasan yang mendapat status Koridor Raya Multimedia, projek mega itu akan memberi manfaat besar kepada rakyat dan industri sokongan sekitar.

shopping mall at pulau jerejak?
bayan mall and penang jaya? where? never heard it before..

Penang port to be NCER hub
Sunday December 9, 2007
TheStar

PENANG: The Penang Port Commission (PPC) has embarked on several new projects and is planning more to become the transportation and logistics hub under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, who said this, added that the initiatives included implementing the Free Commercial Zone online system for users to declare their imports, exports and transhipment cargo electronically.

“Currently, the system is on its trial run,” he said in his speech at commission's 50th anniversary celebrations last night.

The minister said he was glad to see commission take up the challenge of realising the Government's objectives on the NCER by expanding its cargo handling capacity for both container and conventional facilities.

He said the terminal at the North Butterworth Container Terminal was expected to be expanded by 600m, increasing its entire length to 1.5km.

He said that there were also plans to develop a centralised facility to cope with the growth in the handling of dangerous cargo at the port.

Commission chairman Datuk Dr Loh Hock Hun said he had full confidence that the port's delivery system would improve under the leadership of newly-appointed general manager Norlaila Ibrahim.

OOCL plans direct links to Penang Port

The new service will be part of the shipping line's commitment to facilitate cargo movement in Malaysia's Northern Corridor Economic Region, says its managing director

ORIENT Overseas Container Line (OOCL) plans to launch a new dedicated direct service linking China, Pakistan and the Indian region with Penang Port early 2008.


According to the managing director of Orient Overseas Container Line (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Richard Hew, the new service will be part of the shipping line's commitment to facilitate cargo movement in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).


The NCER (which covers the states of Penang, Perlis, Perak and Kedah) expects to draw an investment of RM177 billion between 2007 and 2025 from the public and private sectors.


"Our new service will definitely strengthen the position of Penang Port serving the development of the region.


"The new service will also become the first direct link between Penang Port and the central China with direct services from three major ports, namely Shanghai, Ningbo and Shekou," said Hew.


He said the line will be deploying a mid-range carrier with the 1,200 TEUs carrying capacity in the trade.


"We are made to understand that the port will be dredging the approach channel to 13.5m from the present 11.5m to allow the passage of bigger mainline vessels," Hew added.


"We believe the service is timely and hope to get "berthing window" from the Penang Port," said Hew.


The service links 10 major ports in five countries in the region, namely China, Pakistan, India, Singapore and Malaysia.


"Our move to introduce the new service will further help the government's effort to spearhead the growth of the NCER.


" The service will also allow us to handle more regional transshipment traffic via Penang Port direct to final destinations," he said.


The new service, known as "China Pakistan Express" will be a joint service with Yang Ming Line and OOCL.


The port rotation will include Shanghai - Ningbo - Shekou - Singapore - Karachi - Mundra - Penang - Port Klang - Singapore - Hong Kong - Shanghai, for a 35-day round trip. The service also offers the fastest connection of seven days between Mundra Port in India and Penang Port in Malaysia. - PortsWorld

December 17, 2007 21:23 PM

Dewan Rakyat Approves NCIA Act


KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Dewan Rakyat today approved a new legislation, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Act as a follow up to the launch of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) Blueprint.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had launched the NCER on July 30 this year in Alor Star, Kedah and in Butterworth, Penang the next day.

The NCER initiative will span from this year to the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan in 2025.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi, when announcing the approval said the adoption of the Act will oversee the creation and development of the region's implementation agency, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), which will be responsible for developing socio-economic related strategies, policies and the overall direction of the economic region.

"It will also give administrative support to the state government when necessary," he said in a statement here today.

The establishment of NCIA is part of the government's delivery on its promise to put into action the development plans that have been proposed.

It is envisaged to promote and accelerate the development of the NCER into world-class economic region and choice destination for investment, work and living as well as to ensure that social development and sustainable development are kept as priorities while driving economic growth in the NCER.

Effendi said the NCER was estimated to bring in a total investment of RM178 billion and create employment opportunities of around 540,000 in the region within the next 17 years (2008 to 2025).

It is also estimated that around 179 initiative projects have been identified to be implemented under the NCER.

Effendi said the success of the blueprint will transform the area into a vibrant economic region that will attract both domestic and foreign investors, especially as it is an important component in strategic international economic groups, such as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

In addition, the NCER will be the impetus for socio-economic development of the four states involved, which are Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang and northern Perak.

He said that the NCER project will also spearhead growth, as well as equitable distribution of wealth to the rural areas and contribute towards poverty eradication.

"These will be done through development programmes in four key sectors - manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and human capital - driving them towards higher value activities," he said.

Effendi also said that citizens in the region can expect modernisation of their traditional agricultural enterprises, comprehensive infrastructure upgrades and an extensive human capital development plan which will include additional tertiary education centres, community colleges as well as skills development centres for school leavers.

Since the official launch, numerous developments for NCER have taken place.

Chief among these, other than preparing the Bill for NCIA, is the preparation of sectorals' implementation plans namely for the promoted sectors in the region.

The sectoral plans, prepared by Sime Darby Group Bhd with inputs from various stakeholders including the state and private sector, are set to be completed by early 2008 and will complement the NCER Blueprint.

Sime Darby, the master planner of NCER has also initiated the development of a seeds centre in Perlis, corn farming in Bukit Tangga, Kedah, school adoptions in all four states and cattle feedlots in Selama, Perak.

Several other private sector-led initiatives have been also announced and well under progress such as the Penang Monorail, Penang Sentral, a halal hub in Sungai Petani, Kedah, fabrication yard in Yan, Kedah, eco-tourism facilities in Tasik Banding, Perak as well as aquaculture industrial zone projects across the region.

Effendi said that the government will soon undertake additional socio-economic projects with the main aim of eradicating poverty, including infrastructure and utilities, to ensure the needs of NCER citizens and investors are adequately met.

The NCIA will be chaired by the Prime Minister and will comprise the Deputy Prime Minister, Menteri Besar or Chief Minister of each state, as well as high level representatives from the Federal and State Government.

There will be also two additional members from the private sector.

-- BERNAMA

NCER to get RM5b more
by B Suresh Ram, 18 Dec 2007 12:23 PM
THEEDGEDAILY

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will provide an additional RM5 billion in the mid-term review of the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi.

He said under the 9MP currently, the government had provided RM12.5 billion in financial provision for the implementation of various projects in the NCER.

“On the whole, about RM178 billion would be invested in the NCER until 2025 involving both the private and public sector,” he said in reply to points raised by MPs during their debate on the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Bill 2007 (NCIA) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Effendi said under the 10th Malaysia Plan, RM13 billion would be allocated by the government for the NCER, with the private sector expected to invest another RM30 billion.

He said under 11th and 12th Malaysia Plan, the private sector were expected to invest another RM30 billion in the NCER.

He added a total of 179 projects would be implemented in the NCER until 2025 involving the agriculture, manufacturing and tourism economic sector. Effendi said this move would lead to the creation of 540,000 jobs.

He also said the NCIA would not usurp the powers and functions from any of the state governments or agencies which come under the corridor and this was clearly stated in the role the proposed authority would play in the corridor.

“For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act shall be construed as reducing or limiting the rights, powers and functions of the State of Perlis, Kedah, Penang or Perak or any government entity,” he said.

Earlier in tabling the bill, Effendi said the NCIA was needed to ensure systematic development in the area. He said as the coordinating agency, NCIA would ensure the development policies for the region are commercially viable. The bill was passed by the House.

NCER to get RM5b more
by B Suresh Ram
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com


KUALA LUMPUR: The government will provide an additional RM5 billion in the mid-term review of the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi.

He said under the 9MP currently, the government had provided RM12.5 billion in financial provision for the implementation of various projects in the NCER.

“On the whole, about RM178 billion would be invested in the NCER until 2025 involving both the private and public sector,” he said in reply to points raised by MPs during their debate on the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Bill 2007 (NCIA) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Effendi said under the 10th Malaysia Plan, RM13 billion would be allocated by the government for the NCER, with the private sector expected to invest another RM30 billion.

He said under 11th and 12th Malaysia Plan, the private sector were expected to invest another RM30 billion in the NCER.

He added a total of 179 projects would be implemented in the NCER until 2025 involving the agriculture, manufacturing and tourism economic sector. Effendi said this move would lead to the creation of 540,000 jobs.

He also said the NCIA would not usurp the powers and functions from any of the state governments or agencies which come under the corridor and this was clearly stated in the role the proposed authority would play in the corridor.

“For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act shall be construed as reducing or limiting the rights, powers and functions of the State of Perlis, Kedah, Penang or Perak or any government entity,” he said.

Earlier in tabling the bill, Effendi said the NCIA was needed to ensure systematic development in the area. He said as the coordinating agency, NCIA would ensure the development policies for the region are commercially viable. The bill was passed by the House.

Dewan Rakyat Approves NCIA Act

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Dewan Rakyat today approved a new legislation, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Act as a follow up to the launch of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) Blueprint.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had launched the NCER on July 30 this year in Alor Star, Kedah and in Butterworth, Penang the next day.

The NCER initiative will span from this year to the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan in 2025.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi, when announcing the approval said the adoption of the Act will oversee the creation and development of the region's implementation agency, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), which will be responsible for developing socio-economic related strategies, policies and the overall direction of the economic region.

"It will also give administrative support to the state government when necessary," he said in a statement here today.

The establishment of NCIA is part of the government's delivery on its promise to put into action the development plans that have been proposed.

It is envisaged to promote and accelerate the development of the NCER into world-class economic region and choice destination for investment, work and living as well as to ensure that social development and sustainable development are kept as priorities while driving economic growth in the NCER.

Effendi said the NCER was estimated to bring in a total investment of RM178 billion and create employment opportunities of around 540,000 in the region within the next 17 years (2008 to 2025).

It is also estimated that around 179 initiative projects have been identified to be implemented under the NCER.

Effendi said the success of the blueprint will transform the area into a vibrant economic region that will attract both domestic and foreign investors, especially as it is an important component in strategic international economic groups, such as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

In addition, the NCER will be the impetus for socio-economic development of the four states involved, which are Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang and northern Perak.

He said that the NCER project will also spearhead growth, as well as equitable distribution of wealth to the rural areas and contribute towards poverty eradication.

"These will be done through development programmes in four key sectors - manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and human capital - driving them towards higher value activities," he said.

Effendi also said that citizens in the region can expect modernisation of their traditional agricultural enterprises, comprehensive infrastructure upgrades and an extensive human capital development plan which will include additional tertiary education centres, community colleges as well as skills development centres for school leavers.

Since the official launch, numerous developments for NCER have taken place.

Chief among these, other than preparing the Bill for NCIA, is the preparation of sectorals' implementation plans namely for the promoted sectors in the region.

The sectoral plans, prepared by Sime Darby Group Bhd with inputs from various stakeholders including the state and private sector, are set to be completed by early 2008 and will complement the NCER Blueprint.

Sime Darby, the master planner of NCER has also initiated the development of a seeds centre in Perlis, corn farming in Bukit Tangga, Kedah, school adoptions in all four states and cattle feedlots in Selama, Perak.

Several other private sector-led initiatives have been also announced and well under progress such as the Penang Monorail, Penang Sentral, a halal hub in Sungai Petani, Kedah, fabrication yard in Yan, Kedah, eco-tourism facilities in Tasik Banding, Perak as well as aquaculture industrial zone projects across the region.

Effendi said that the government will soon undertake additional socio-economic projects with the main aim of eradicating poverty, including infrastructure and utilities, to ensure the needs of NCER citizens and investors are adequately met.

The NCIA will be chaired by the Prime Minister and will comprise the Deputy Prime Minister, Menteri Besar or Chief Minister of each state, as well as high level representatives from the Federal and State Government.

There will be also two additional members from the private sector.

http://ipenangproperty.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/jerry1.jpg
ASAS Dunia Bhd, a pioneer developer of low- and mediumcost houses on the mainland in Seberang Perai, is looking to diversify its product range by offering more high-end developments in the future. The company wants to be a key property developer, especially on the mainland belt between the existing Penang Bridge and the soon-to-be-constructed second bridge in Batu Kawan.
Managing director Datuk Jerry Chan reasons that good times are ahead for Penang as a whole, with the mainland standing to reap economic benefits from the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) slated to kick-off by next year. “People move to where there are jobs, and where there is industrial growth, there will be jobs, which would translate into an increased demand for housing,” he tells PropertyPlus. Chan says, until recently, Penang had not received sufficient attention, but with the “backlog” of industrialisation projects being cleared, he is confident that there is going to be a vast increase in economic and wealthcreation activity.
“What should have come over an extended period of time is now going to happen in a very short time, say, within the next five years, and it is inevitable that people will want to have a higher standard of housing. “Based on this, we will not limit ourselves to just to include higher-end developments,” he says. Indeed, with the promise of rapid industrialisation brought about by the government’s efforts under the NCER, stretching from Kepala Batas right down to Nibong Tebal, infrastructure and connectivity are expected to be greatly enhanced, such as the upgrading works on the old Federal Route 1 into a dual carriageway in the near future.
“For us, where there is an escalation of industrialisation, more often than not, we will not be far behind,” Chan says. At the rate industrialisation expands on the mainland and the improvement in infrastructure there, distances start to appear shorter thanks to a reduction of travelling time, he adds. “A situation will arise where there is a push towards the suburbs, and when that happens, there is no longer a need for us to be so focused on affordable housing. As people become more affluent, they will want better designs, bigger spaces and better facilities. On our part, we intend to move with the expected demand,” Chan says, although the company has not begun any high-end projects yet. “When demand picks up for higher-end housing on the mainland, we intend to position ourselves to cash in on that because if the market can take it, we, who are also answerable to shareholders, should do it,” he says. However, even if that is the case, Asas Dunia will not neglect development of affordable housing and there will be a balance of both types of projects in the future, Chan offers.
Asas Dunia has also developed industrial properties, which command higher profit margins compared to its residential projects. The company, incorporated in 1982, was founded by Chan’s father Tony Chan, along with several other shareholders and has, to date, built some 19,000 houses, most of which are located in Seberang Perai. Among its ongoing projects is Taman Idaman in Simpang Ampat, comprising 51 units of 2-storey terraced houses with a GDV of about RM11 million. Built-ups are from 1,600sq ft, with prices from RM185,250.
Another project is Taman Impian Indah in Alma, Bukit Mertajam, with a GDV of RM15.5 million comprising 73 2-storey terraced houses with built-ups from 1,800sq ft and priced from RM205,500 onwards. A higher-end project is Taman Jawi Permai in Jawi, with a GDV of RM18.4 million, comprising 68 units of 2-storey semi detached houses with builtups from 2,080sq ft and priced from RM253,000 onwards. In its early days, Asas Dunia was involved in the construction industry and, from the onset, was a class A contractor, constructing buildings for many government agencies. “The mid-1980s was a difficult time for the industry due to the recession that hit the country, but we were fortunate to have developed Taman Bukit Jambul, our first major project on Penang island,” Chan says.
With a GDV of about RM85 million, Taman Bukit Jambul comprised 1,299 units of apartments with average builtups of about 700sq ft. “We found that even in the recession, our houses could sell and it was also a bonus for us,as costs of construction were lower,” Chan adds. In the late 1980s the government had a two-pronged objective to push industrial activities to the mainland, due
to a shortage of land on the island, coupled with the fact that available land there was cheap. “The government also had a plan to balance economic activity on both sides of the Penang Bridge, with the population mix on the mainland comprising more bumiputeras.”
It was then that Asas Dunia decided to move its property development activities to the mainland following the industrial expansion there. “Ever since then, there was no turning back for us as property development on the mainland has continued to be our forte,” Chan says. The company is currently embarking on a RM1.5-billion mixed-development project in Seberang Perai Selatan
comprising between 5,000 and 6,000 residential units and a small number of commercial units on a 202.3ha site.
Recently, the company also announced the purchase of 15 parcels of freehold, contiguous land measuring some 138 acres, adding to its existing 1,400 acres of landbank. The land, located near the proposed interchange from the Second Penang Bridge leading to the North-South Highway and the Batu Kawan Industrial Estate had been purchased from social housing developer TPPT Sdn Bhd for RM33.5 million. Asas Dunia expects to develop a mix of medium-cost landed, link and semi-detached houses on the site.

Plexus makes Penang regional hub

The global contract maker of electronics products has grown its revenue in Penang to more than 23 per cent of US$1.5 billion in total consolidated revenue in fiscal 2007

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Wednesday/Nation/plexus.xml/Article/Current_News/BTIMES/Images/btgraph6/foate.jpg

PLEXUS Corp is projecting its revenue for the next five years to reach RM16.4 billion, with the Asian region as a significant growth area for the global contract manufacturer of electronics products.

The key player in the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry has vowed to continue its investment in the region, after turning Penang into its Asian headquarters.

The company is also in the process of making Penang its Asia technology centre.

Its chief executive officer Dean Foate said the company has spent nearly RM260 million in capital expenditure in Penang for its three manufacturing facilities over the past five years.


Foate said with an accumulated capacity of 640,000 sq ft, Penang constitutes about 30 per cent of the company's production plants. Its other manufacturing facilities are located in China, the UK, North America and Mexico.

"Over the last five years, our revenue in Penang has grown to over RM350 million or more than 23 per cent of US$1.5 billion (RM4.9 billion) in total consolidated revenue in fiscal 2007," he said after a visit by Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to Plexus Riverside in Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone yesterday.

The new 75,000 sq ft manufacturing facility houses Plexus Asian headquarters and its design and laboratory centres.

Foate said Plexus chose Penang as its regional hub due to the island's high-tech manufacturing environment, strong supply chain, and highly educated and talented workforce.

Plexus Asia Pacific president Y.J. Lim said local skilled workforce would benefit from the company's expansion plans, in particular the Asia technology centre.

Lim said the expansion plans would create an overall 600 job opportunities.

Pantai Kok akan dibangun pusat pelancongan moden


LANGKAWI: Kerajaan negeri kini memberi tumpuan untuk membangunkan kawasan Pantai Kok di sini, sebagai pusat pelancongan serba moden dalam tempoh dua tahun akan datang untuk dijadikan daya penarik baru ke pulau ini.

Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, berkata perhatian kerajaan ditumpukan untuk membangunkan kira-kira 120 hektar tanah di Pantai Kok sebagai pusat pelancongan baru yang diberi nama Eagle Cove.

"Syarikat yang dilantik kerajaan negeri untuk membangunkan projek mega itu sedang menyelesaikan masalah pengambilan tanah penduduk yang dijangka selesai dalam tempoh dua bulan dari sekarang.



“Fasa pertama projek itu dijangka siap dalam tempoh dua tahun," katanya selepas menghadiri majlis makan tengah hari dan perjumpaan dengan pemimpin Barisan Nasional (BN) Langkawi di sini, kelmarin.

Hadir sama Pengerusi BN Langkawi yang juga Ketua Umno Bahagian Langkawi, Datuk Paduka Abu Bakar Taib.

Mahdzir berkata, projek itu yang akan dibangunkan dalam empat fasa itu membabitkan pembinaan pembinaan sebuah hospital serba lengkap, marina, hotel dan deretan kedai bebas cukai untuk kemudahan pelancong dari dalam dan luar negara.

"Pelaksanaan projek pelancongan baru itu penting bagi memastikan Langkawi terus kekal antara pusat pelancongan utama negara, selain menyaingi kehebatan pusat pelancongan terkenal di negara jiran seperti Phuket di Thailand dan Bali di Indonesia.

"Jika kita hanya berbangga dengan produk sedia ada, nescaya dalam tempoh lima tahun akan datang, pelancong asing akan memilih destinasi lain untuk dikunjungi dan ketika itu kita agak terlewat untuk merancang projek baru," katanya.

Terdahulu, dalam ucapannya, Mahdzir menggesa anggota BN mengekalkan perpaduan bagi memastikan kemenangan parti itu dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang yang dijangka diadakan dalam tempoh terdekat.

"Di Malaysia, kita tidak ada masalah kepimpinan di peringkat pusat dan negeri kerana BN selaku parti pemerintah sentiasa mengamalkan formula kerjasama dan ternyata pendekatan itu adalah paling baik dan sesuai," katanya.

Eagle Cove
I like the name!
kinda classy!

RM2m green lung project for Penang


GEORGE TOWN: More than 3,000 trees will be planted throughout the island this year to ensure a "greener" Penang.
The project, to be undertaken by the Penang Island Municipal Council, is expected to cost about RM2 million.

Council president Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman said the move would ensure the island remained vibrant, conducive and attractive.

"We want to promote Penang as a livable city with beautiful and attractive surroundings and not a concrete jungle.

"Towards this end, we will create more parks and open spaces."
Zainal Rahim said the council was still sourcing for the trees.

Last year, some 2,500 trees were planted, costing RM1.5 million.

Most of the trees were planted in Bayan Lepas as well as at parks and open spaces.

Over the years, termites had rendered thousands of trees along public roads here a danger to motorists.

Most of the news is about Penang.... Hope Perlis and Kedah will have countless of big news!

Most of the news is about Penang.... Hope Perlis and Kedah will have countless of big news!

my friend...the only thing gonna happen in Perlis is maybe improved drainage in paddy fields! Perlis is the least to benefit from ANYTHING, I am form perlis and totally lost faith in the goverment, be it Federal or state...Perlis needs to get more aggresive non AGRICULTURAL ventures, small state...how much agri could you develop? Everything from that tiny little state is 'half baked' and second class...yes I am sour and blunt but heck, all these time no one gives a rats ass anyway. Perlis is a lazy state...there ya go!

Kedah to be rubber hub
Tuesday January 15, 2008
By V. CHANDRASEKARAN
TheStar

SUNGAI PETANI: A RM20mil rubber research and industrial centre will be set up in Kedah to turn the state into a hub for rubber industry in the country.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said land was being acquired for the centre on a 1,200ha site in Sungai Sari, Padang Terap, near Alor Star.

It would be used for research and production of rubber-based products.

“We will have rubber plantation, research laboratories and rubber-based industries, all in a cluster in the hub,” he said.

He said the centre, which would be completed under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, would transform Kedah into a hub for rubber research and industries in the country.

“It will also complement plans under the Northern Corridor Eco-nomic Region to make Kedah, Penang, Perlis and northern Perak a zone for rubber industry,” he told reporters after opening a new Kedah/Perlis/Penang Malaysian Rubber Board office building here yesterday.

Chin said Kedah had 156,000ha of rubber plantations and it was the largest producer of rubber in the country.

He said 12% of the total 1.2 billion metric tonnes of rubber produced in the country came from Kedah.

“With this, we need to synergise efforts to make Kedah the centre for rubber industry,” he said.

He said the country imported rubber from Thailand and exported back to that country after processing.

“Instead of re-exporting, we want to export value-added rubber-based products and earn a better foreign exchange.

“For this, we need better research facilities and the related industries” he said.

http://ipenangproperty.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/jerry1.jpg
ASAS Dunia Bhd, a pioneer developer of low- and mediumcost houses on the mainland in Seberang Perai, is looking to diversify its product range by offering more high-end developments in the future. The company wants to be a key property developer, especially on the mainland belt between the existing Penang Bridge and the soon-to-be-constructed second bridge in Batu Kawan.
Managing director Datuk Jerry Chan reasons that good times are ahead for Penang as a whole, with the mainland standing to reap economic benefits from the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) slated to kick-off by next year. “People move to where there are jobs, and where there is industrial growth, there will be jobs, which would translate into an increased demand for housing,” he tells PropertyPlus. Chan says, until recently, Penang had not received sufficient attention, but with the “backlog” of industrialisation projects being cleared, he is confident that there is going to be a vast increase in economic and wealthcreation activity.
“What should have come over an extended period of time is now going to happen in a very short time, say, within the next five years, and it is inevitable that people will want to have a higher standard of housing. “Based on this, we will not limit ourselves to just to include higher-end developments,” he says. Indeed, with the promise of rapid industrialisation brought about by the government’s efforts under the NCER, stretching from Kepala Batas right down to Nibong Tebal, infrastructure and connectivity are expected to be greatly enhanced, such as the upgrading works on the old Federal Route 1 into a dual carriageway in the near future.
“For us, where there is an escalation of industrialisation, more often than not, we will not be far behind,” Chan says. At the rate industrialisation expands on the mainland and the improvement in infrastructure there, distances start to appear shorter thanks to a reduction of travelling time, he adds. “A situation will arise where there is a push towards the suburbs, and when that happens, there is no longer a need for us to be so focused on affordable housing. As people become more affluent, they will want better designs, bigger spaces and better facilities. On our part, we intend to move with the expected demand,” Chan says, although the company has not begun any high-end projects yet. “When demand picks up for higher-end housing on the mainland, we intend to position ourselves to cash in on that because if the market can take it, we, who are also answerable to shareholders, should do it,” he says. However, even if that is the case, Asas Dunia will not neglect development of affordable housing and there will be a balance of both types of projects in the future, Chan offers.
Asas Dunia has also developed industrial properties, which command higher profit margins compared to its residential projects. The company, incorporated in 1982, was founded by Chan’s father Tony Chan, along with several other shareholders and has, to date, built some 19,000 houses, most of which are located in Seberang Perai. Among its ongoing projects is Taman Idaman in Simpang Ampat, comprising 51 units of 2-storey terraced houses with a GDV of about RM11 million. Built-ups are from 1,600sq ft, with prices from RM185,250.
Another project is Taman Impian Indah in Alma, Bukit Mertajam, with a GDV of RM15.5 million comprising 73 2-storey terraced houses with built-ups from 1,800sq ft and priced from RM205,500 onwards. A higher-end project is Taman Jawi Permai in Jawi, with a GDV of RM18.4 million, comprising 68 units of 2-storey semi detached houses with builtups from 2,080sq ft and priced from RM253,000 onwards. In its early days, Asas Dunia was involved in the construction industry and, from the onset, was a class A contractor, constructing buildings for many government agencies. “The mid-1980s was a difficult time for the industry due to the recession that hit the country, but we were fortunate to have developed Taman Bukit Jambul, our first major project on Penang island,” Chan says.
With a GDV of about RM85 million, Taman Bukit Jambul comprised 1,299 units of apartments with average builtups of about 700sq ft. “We found that even in the recession, our houses could sell and it was also a bonus for us,as costs of construction were lower,” Chan adds. In the late 1980s the government had a two-pronged objective to push industrial activities to the mainland, due
to a shortage of land on the island, coupled with the fact that available land there was cheap. “The government also had a plan to balance economic activity on both sides of the Penang Bridge, with the population mix on the mainland comprising more bumiputeras.”
It was then that Asas Dunia decided to move its property development activities to the mainland following the industrial expansion there. “Ever since then, there was no turning back for us as property development on the mainland has continued to be our forte,” Chan says. The company is currently embarking on a RM1.5-billion mixed-development project in Seberang Perai Selatan
comprising between 5,000 and 6,000 residential units and a small number of commercial units on a 202.3ha site.
Recently, the company also announced the purchase of 15 parcels of freehold, contiguous land measuring some 138 acres, adding to its existing 1,400 acres of landbank. The land, located near the proposed interchange from the Second Penang Bridge leading to the North-South Highway and the Batu Kawan Industrial Estate had been purchased from social housing developer TPPT Sdn Bhd for RM33.5 million. Asas Dunia expects to develop a mix of medium-cost landed, link and semi-detached houses on the site.


HAHAHA. Ask any house buyer in Seberang Perai what this company is associated with. This company is infamous for building houses that floods everytime there is a heavy downpour. All developers have enough common sense to raise the land elevation during their earthwork but apparently it is part of their cost cutting measure.

osman arop punya company. Ex kedah menteri besar....Taman Impian Indah in Alma has its own supermarket about 4 storey but i dont know if it's still selling stuff or closed already

Seagate to ramp up production

By KOAY SHIANN HUAH

PENANG: Seagate Technology Inc, the world largest disc drives maker, has directed its Penang plant to increase production this year.

Group executive vice-president cum chief financial officer Charles Pope said the move was to meet rising demand for digital storage.

"The demand for digital storage drives has been growing year over year, especially in the digital video and mobile drive industries with both growing over 30% to 40% yearly," he told reporters Friday during a teleconference from the United States.

Seagate currently commands 37% of the global hard disk drive market. It has over 3,500 employees at its Penang plant.

On Seagate's 2008 second quarter fiscal report, Pope said the company's revenue rose 14% to RM11.22bil, with a net income at RM 1.33bil, and diluted net income per share of RM2.40 for the quarter ended Dec 28 last year.

"We are confident that Seagate's vision, technology and operational excellence will drive us to continued strong financial and operating performance in the March quarter," he said.

For the March quarter, Pope said the company expects to report revenue of RM10.56bil to RM10.89bil.

my friend...the only thing gonna happen in Perlis is maybe improved drainage in paddy fields! Perlis is the least to benefit from ANYTHING, I am form perlis and totally lost faith in the goverment, be it Federal or state...Perlis needs to get more aggresive non AGRICULTURAL ventures, small state...how much agri could you develop? Everything from that tiny little state is 'half baked' and second class...yes I am sour and blunt but heck, all these time no one gives a rats ass anyway. Perlis is a lazy state...there ya go!

Perlis Gov had build two highway (some in 4 lanes) which connected Padang Besar and Kuala Perlis with NSH, they are trying to boost up transportation filed in state, from NCER, we can clearly know that Padang Besar and Kuala Perlis are under attention of central government. i dont expect PakLah is able to change Perlis economic in short but i expect Perlis state government should take some paths to attract transportation companies, tourism agencies and so on. dont too much rely on central government.

my friend...the only thing gonna happen in Perlis is maybe improved drainage in paddy fields! Perlis is the least to benefit from ANYTHING, I am form perlis and totally lost faith in the goverment, be it Federal or state...Perlis needs to get more aggresive non AGRICULTURAL ventures, small state...how much agri could you develop? Everything from that tiny little state is 'half baked' and second class...yes I am sour and blunt but heck, all these time no one gives a rats ass anyway. Perlis is a lazy state...there ya go!

Yes, Perlis needs to get more aggresive non agricultural, but I don't find Perlis is a lazy states. In fact, they are eager to develop their state. Just like you!
Maybe like you said, it is the gov. They like to develop to more potential states like Penang or Johor.

Penang leads in broadband penetration

by Regina Williams
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

PENANG: Penang is leading the way in broadband connectivity with a target to reach 50% penetration by next year, a full year before the 2010 target set by the government.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie said so far, Penang has achieved more than 30% and will reach the 50% broadband penetration by 2009.

“Penang is way ahead in this aspect, especially when the national target of 50% was set to be achieved by 2010,” Halim said after witnessing the launching of Telekom Malaysia’s Streamyx 2.0Mbps and 4.0Mbps packages with free Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) trial service for selected areas of Penang and Kulim.

This is the first region in the country to have IPTV service bundled with Streamyx packages.

The launch officiated by Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye who is also the chairman of the Penang K-ICT awareness committee. The launch was in conjuction with the inaugural Penang WiFi Treasure Hunt 2008 that was flagged off earlier in the morning.

TM Penang general manager Lai Hook Kian said the launch of the Streamyx packages signified the next step forward in the development of broadband services in the northern region, as Streamyx 4.0Mbps is the fastest broadband service available to consumers in the country today.

“We hope more consumers will be encouraged to take up broadband with this significant speed increase and special pricing offered.

“To make these packages more appealing, it has been specially bundled with a free three-month IPTV trial service for the first 900 subscribers who sign up,” he added.

The content of the IPTV service includes local free-to-air TV channels as well as selected international news channels plus a premium video-on-demand service with a choice of Malay, Indonesian, Chinese, English and Bollywood movies.

Lai said that by offering the IPTV trial, TM hoped to obtain first-hand feedback from users to assist TM in preparing for its nationwide IPTV rollout.

The Streamyx packages are available only to residential customers in Bayan Lepas, Batu Ferringhi and Kulim with a minimum 24-month subscription period after which customers will be charged the normal monthly subscription fee.

The rates for the 2.0Mbps package with a free modem and a three-month IPTV trial service is RM99 per month (normal RM188) while the 4.0Mbps is RM148 per month (normal RM268).

A one-time service activation fee of RM75 and an installation fee of RM88 are applicable.

Penang and Kulim residents can sign up for these packages at any TMpoint outlets, Clickers authorised service outlets and TM authorised resellers.

For more information visit www.tm.com.my or contact TM at 100 and select Internet services.

US biotech firm sets up R&D centre in Kedah

By V. CHANDRASEKARAN

SUNGAI PETANI: US-based bio-technology company WaferGen Biosystems Inc is setting up a RM10mil research and development centre at Kulim-High Tech Park in Kedah, the company's first venture outside Silicon Valley.

It has set up a subsidiary, WaferGen Biosystems (M) Sdn Bhd, to handle the operations.

WaferGen develops gene expression, genotyping, cell biology and stem cell research systems for the life science and pharmaceutical industries.

WaferGen chairman and chief executive officer Alnoor Shivji said the R&D centre would be ready by April and would require some 100 researchers and scientists, mainly locals.

“We intend to tap the impressive expertise of the local scientific community by employing highly qualified researchers and scientists,” he said.

He said the company would form collaborations with local universities, research institutions and relevant supporting industries for research on bio-technology.

“Our technology will allow scientists and researchers to discover bio markers that will help address a number of diseases as well as diagnose diseases,” he said.

“Ultimately, we believe we can help these individuals in conducting their groundbreaking research better, smarter, faster and cheaper,” he told reporters after an agreement signing ceremony at the Kuala Muda district office in Sungai Petani, Kedah on Wednesday.

Belleview has Penang projects lined up

By DAVID TAN

PENANG: The Belleview Group has lined up eight commercial and residential projects on the island with estimated gross sales value of RM1.2bil, to be launched in the first half of this year.

Belleview managing director Sunny Ho told reporters that the projects included an up-market shopping mall, which was a joint venture between the Belleview Group, Lions Group and a US-based investment fund company.

"The other big project for 2008 is Season Park, comprising 800 units of lifestyle condominiums in Air Itam.

"We plan to price the units from RM180,000 onwards, depending on the built-up areas, which range between 850sq ft and 2,000sq ft," he added.

The other projects lined up included the Palmyra Residences in Balik Pulau, comprising terrace and semi-detached houses; the 6 Western Avenue in Jalan Utama, comprising solely bungalow homes; Seasons Place in Air Itam, comprising solely commercial properties; Melody Homes in Air Itam, comprising apartments with recreational facilities; the Bukit Dumbar Residences in Bukit Dumbar, a landed residential project; and Moulmein Rise in Pulau Tikus, a luxurious commercial-cum-residential project. Founded in 1984, the Belleview Group has to date completed 4,238 units of residential and commercial properties located in Penang and Kulim, Kedah, with an estimated gross sales value of RM1.3bil.

there's too many shopping malls already in penang but not the upmarket shopping mall
i hope they will build some kind of Pavilion KL or KLCC

the progress of ncer is very very slow compared to idr. i don't think there will be massive infrastructural development under ncer in 10 or 20 years time. more farms than new township. from my point of view ncer is only great on paper but the fact is, nothing happen.

Ncer will be a backyard of malaysia, while idr will become like a hotel lobby, so colourful, bright and attractive:lol::lol::lol:

^^Hello sasaumau.

I think this could be the best answer to ur statment.




I posted the question during Malaysian economy class about it. My lecturer explain, with all the redevelopment of agriculture, it's actually a natural step forward for developing countries. FYI, we're not going back to the past nor we want to increase the number of padi farmers, fisherman and cowboys (penternak lembu, kambing, ayam dsb). But the plan is rather to orchestrate a better system so that with the land we have, we can produce more which means greater efficiency, and better quality of our agricultural product.

Look around you, what's the average age of farmers? The answer will be around 40 years old. Obviously with all the development take away their child to join manufacturing industry with better paychecks. What Pak Lah and his economist want is to keep their child at home, give them better machineries to work on their fertile land and coordinated supply chain to ensure the process of producing quality product so that we can export the product overseas. As for the fisherman, deep water fishing port in Batu Maung is their place to start. Development doesn't solely mean building higher and higher building, crisscrossing web of highways. Development means doing things with better efficiencies and product-wise, it will be better. That's what they are trying to turn Northern Corridor into.

People tend to associate 'becoming developed country' with supertalls, banking and financial center etc etc. They see this image of developed countries in TVs. Let's take example USA. What people saw on TV everyday is New York, Hollywood, Hoover Dam, and sex. But they dont see farmers working on their crops with huge machine. USA produce high quality grain but many people dont know about it. I can go forever bragging about the agriculture product of USA but let's stop short here. Another example would be Netherlands.

That is what PM is trying to turn Penang into. In the future agriculture may not constitute half of our nation's export but with better use of our soil, we can achieve food self sufficiency. Service sector and manufacturing will still play the main role in the country.

We have Penang with the best infrastructure, Kedah and Perak with more land and Perlis which has Thai border up north. They are using the advantages of each state to make this thing successful. Penang will become the hub of distribution of our quality agriculture product.

The plan may not stated to turn Penang into metropolis. But i believe eventually Penang will turn itself into a metropolis once all the thing is in place.

Comparison between NCER and IDR

IDR is different. As Johor situated just next to Singapore, it's best positioned to tap into Singapore industries which try to find cheaper place to relocate their operation. Apart from that, adding banking and service sector will make it more attractive as it will make them one-stop-center for operation. You wanna set a factory? Yes you have the space. Financing? Yes we have banks and financial institutions. Quality workers? Aplenty, find them in UTM and other colleges. That's IDR advantage over Batam. Batam may only provide workspace and tax perks but Johor can provide it all. Just bring you plan and we'll make it happen.

Household income in Johor is higher than those within NCER. Everybody knows because of the Singaporean dollar power, the cost of living in JB is much higher than the cost of living in Penang. So that's why Pak Lah wants to improve the income and livelihood among farmers in NCER. You cant just make them to join manufacturing sector while their education background is merely until darjah 6 or form 3 only. Nowadays even when u want to work as operator pengeluaran in Prai they want you to have at least SPM. So apart from education the most suitable way to provide them with job is to train them with latest technology/technique in farming, animal husbandry (penternakan haiwan) and deep water fishing. Naturally, the generation will move upwards the supply chain.

We cant be overly dependent on manufacturing. With stronger ringgit it make Malaysia less attractive as labor intensive industry is actively seeking cheaper place such as Vietnam and China to do their business. What Malaysian and Pak Lah do in Penang is to focus on high end, RnD jobs which needs more intellects to do it. Higher end job means higher pay, and bigger spending power.

So Penangites, dont feel so low because NCER talks more about agriculture, understand the concept, and in the end of 10 years from now everybody will know foods serve on their table must have come from Kedah and Perlis or Perak, processed and distributed by companies in Penang.

Let all supertalls stay elsewhere, i'm much prouder with our prewar houses, electronics industry and Penang Airport.

Yesterday Ghani Othman told reporters that he thinks Senai Airport have much better facilities than Penang Airport. Perhaps he can explain why Fedex, UPS, KAL Cargo, MAS Kargo, Eva Air Cargo and China Airlines cargo does not fly into Senai and pick up boxes there......

PM to launch road project


ALOR STAR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will launch a road upgrading project in padi-growing areas under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority when he visits Kedah on Saturday.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the project was a major component of the RM170 billion Northern Corridor Economic Region.

He said the prime minister, who would be accompanied by his wife, Datin Paduka Seri Jeanne Abdullah, would also give away aid to victims of the December floods during his one-day trip.

Abdullah will also attend a ceremony to hand over a new building to an Islamic religious school in Bukit Pinang which lost its dormitory in a fire two years ago.

He will meet state Barisan Nasional leaders at Kelab Cinta Sayang in Sungai Petani before attending a meet-the-people session in nearby Taman Ria Jaya.

Heard that Intel will relocate its operation in Penang to Kulim which leads to the closure of its plant in Penang.

Is this true? Do u guys have any info about that??

Heard that Intel will relocate its operation in Penang to Kulim which leads to the closure of its plant in Penang.

Is this true? Do u guys have any info about that??

well I read Star newspaper claiming that this rumour is false.......but Star Paper is under MCA and now the election is approaching........so no one knows whether they have the intention to do so except for they themselves.....of course I'm hoping Intel would stay on the island.....bcz penang would be quite
devastated if it happens

Many keen to invest in Perlis
Wednesday February 20, 2008
By MANJIT KAUR
TheStar

THERE is a “traffic jam” of potential investors interested in investing in Perlis since the setting up of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

“The halal hub is 30% completed. There was a traffic jam the past few months as many potential investors had shown great interest in investing in Perlis,” he told reporters after handing out cash aid to senior citizens, orphans and single mothers at Dewan 2020 in Kangar on Monday night.

“We also have loans for those who wish to rear catfish and plant chillies in bags. This is one way to earn a good income,” he said.

Shahidan, the incumbent two-term assemblyman for Tambun Tulang within the Arau parliamentary constituency expressed hopes that he would be selected again to defend the seat.

He warned both Umno and opposition leaders not to tarnish his image in their bid to climb up the political ladder.

Claiming that they had gone around accusing him of corruption “and all sorts of things” during the run-up to the general election, he said:

“Stop this. I never had any bad intentions against anyone, so please don’t smear my good name and stop humiliating me.”

Shahidan added that those who wanted to climb up the political ladder should do it properly. “Jangan nak terajang orang lain (don’t kick others). I know some people are saying all sorts of things about me being corrupted and so on. I have even read such statements on some blogs on the Internet.”

He added: “If I am corrupted I would not have handed over my 10% (RM85mil) stake in Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium (TTPC) to the Perlis Islamic Foundation. If I am corrupted why should I donate my stake to the foundation? I can get a lot of money from there.”

But Shahidan said that he was not unduly worried. “If Allah wants to, he will bring me up again. When I am up there again I will put on my gloves and find out who had been going around slandering me,” he added in jest.

Perlis has 15 state seats within its three parliamentary constituencies of Arau, Kangar and Padang Besar.

There are 120,081 registered voters in the state.

In the 2004 general election, the Barisan won all seats except the Sanglang state seat which was won by state PAS commissioner Hasim Jasin.

PAS which contested two parliamentary and 12 state seats in 2004 is expected to contest the same number of seats again this time.

Hasim who will be defending his seat said the party expected to win more seats this time because of internal squables among Umno lea-ders in the state.

Many keen to invest in Perlis
Wednesday February 20, 2008
By MANJIT KAUR
TheStar

THERE is a “traffic jam” of potential investors interested in investing in Perlis since the setting up of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

“The halal hub is 30% completed. There was a traffic jam the past few months as many potential investors had shown great interest in investing in Perlis,” he told reporters after handing out cash aid to senior citizens, orphans and single mothers at Dewan 2020 in Kangar on Monday night.

“We also have loans for those who wish to rear catfish and plant chillies in bags. This is one way to earn a good income,” he said.

Shahidan, the incumbent two-term assemblyman for Tambun Tulang within the Arau parliamentary constituency expressed hopes that he would be selected again to defend the seat.

He warned both Umno and opposition leaders not to tarnish his image in their bid to climb up the political ladder.

Claiming that they had gone around accusing him of corruption “and all sorts of things” during the run-up to the general election, he said:

“Stop this. I never had any bad intentions against anyone, so please don’t smear my good name and stop humiliating me.”

Shahidan added that those who wanted to climb up the political ladder should do it properly. “Jangan nak terajang orang lain (don’t kick others). I know some people are saying all sorts of things about me being corrupted and so on. I have even read such statements on some blogs on the Internet.”

He added: “If I am corrupted I would not have handed over my 10% (RM85mil) stake in Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium (TTPC) to the Perlis Islamic Foundation. If I am corrupted why should I donate my stake to the foundation? I can get a lot of money from there.”

But Shahidan said that he was not unduly worried. “If Allah wants to, he will bring me up again. When I am up there again I will put on my gloves and find out who had been going around slandering me,” he added in jest.

Perlis has 15 state seats within its three parliamentary constituencies of Arau, Kangar and Padang Besar.

There are 120,081 registered voters in the state.

In the 2004 general election, the Barisan won all seats except the Sanglang state seat which was won by state PAS commissioner Hasim Jasin.

PAS which contested two parliamentary and 12 state seats in 2004 is expected to contest the same number of seats again this time.

Hasim who will be defending his seat said the party expected to win more seats this time because of internal squables among Umno lea-ders in the state.
i dont like Shahidan Kassim...:bash::bash: But i realy like Perlis...

Symmetry Medical to site 1st Asian plant in Penang

Products to be manufactured by the US company in Penang will include orthopaedic implants and orthopaedic instruments.

AMERICAN orthopaedic product maker Symmetry Medical Inc is opening its first Asian offshore manufacturing site in Malaysia this year with a US$20 million (RM64.4 million) investment to be spread over the next two years.

The company, which is the world's largest orthopaedic outsourcing firm, has acquired 2ha at the Penang Science Park, Bukit Minyak, on the mainland to construct a 50,000 sq ft manufacturing facility.

On Penang Island, Symmetry Medical plans to lease a 50,000 sq ft building at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone.

Its president and chief executive officer Brian Moore yesterday said the company has long-term plans of making Malaysia its international procurement centre to support its operations in the US, the UK, Ireland, France and Switzerland.

"We intend to hire about 150 people by the end of this year and this includes design engineers and programmers," he said during a media briefing in Penang.

Moore said examples of products to be manufactured by his company in Penang will include orthopaedic implants and orthopaedic instruments.

"We will also introduce an advanced technological process called Nett-Shape Forging, which is new to Malaysia," he added.

whats the progress of penang sentral...

Easier access at Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone

THE Penang state government wants to provide easier access for suppliers and vendors doing business with multinational companies operating in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone (FIZ).

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced yesterday the opening of the West Gate, which serves as an entry point to the FIZ's third phase, previously closed from 9am to noon.

The opening of the gate is expected to facilitate faster access to shipping points like the Penang International Airport and the mainland port as well as delivery during office hours.

The move was made in response to requests dating back for more than a decade from industrialists operating on the "Silicon Island".

Lim also said that alternative access through the FIZ Phase 3's Red Bridge was being addressed and that additional gantries would be completed soon.

"The Penang Island Municipal Council has promised that the Red Bridge will open to traffic by May 15," he said during a dialogue with some 50 representatives of the Free Industrial Zone Penang Companies' Association (Frepenca) at a hotel in Penang.

Also present were Deputy Chief Minister, Professor Dr P. Ramasamy, and the association's president, Datuk Mohd Sofi Osman.

It is learnt that the council will be spending RM47 million on the construction of two gantries.

"On the part of the state government, we shall strive to allay your concern over a few fundamental issues, such as public safety, by enhancing crime prevention and control, and social interaction, by promoting cross-cultural integration," Lim said.

Frepenca's membership comprises more than 60 companies which are mainly multinational corporations with a combined workforce of 100,000.

In his speech, Lim called on Frepenca members, which include some of the world's top technology brand names, to leverage on the positive business environment in Penang, which most of them have called home for over three decades.

"We know for a fact that most of the industry players, including Frepenca members, have chosen to set up their regional headquarters in Singapore and Hong Kong.

"Perhaps, I should take this opportunity to propose a change, so that you could go back and convince yourprincipal headquarters to relocate your regional headquarters to Penang," he added.

To further encourage multinationals in this direction, the state government will also seek to facilitate and streamline the entry application pro-cess for foreign skilled personnel who travel frequently to Malaysia.

While conceding that it was still early days for the new state government to be talking about overseas missions, Lim said that efforts to bring in fresh investments and reinvestments were on the cards,but would not entail lavish overseas junkets.

by Business Times

PM invites Thais to invest up north
By : Farrah Naz Karim

http://www.nst.com.my/Friday/National/2223118/insidepix1
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pointing out some landmarks in Putrajaya to Samak Sundaravej yesterday.


PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia wants Thai investors to explore the opportunities being offered in the Northern Corridor Development Region.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said their participation would contribute to economic growth in the border areas, including southern Thailand.

Abdullah said as Malaysia and Thailand shared a common border, peace, stability and prosperity in southern Thailand were important to both countries.

"We also know that the solution to the problems generated by poverty and underdevelopment lies not only in the construction of infrastructure and the provision of social amenities but also investment in human capital.

"When people are equipped with knowledge and skills, they become useful citizens who can uplift themselves economically and socially and contribute to the well-being of the society at the same time," Abdullah said at a luncheon he hosted for visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej here yesterday.

He said Malaysia was prepared to continue contributing to the economic and social development of the people in southern Thailand.

He said both nations needed to do more although some progress had been made in education and skills training for young people.

Specific measures to accelerate co-operation in matters already agreed upon should be identified, and new areas of collaboration explored, he said.

"As we share common land and sea boundaries, there will always be issues which require continuing attention.

"The overriding objective should always be the maintenance of friendly relations between our two governments and the people because the peace and prosperity of our two countries are interdependent in many ways," Abdullah said.

He was happy to note that total trade between Malaysia and Thailand had grown from US$15.66 billion (RM49 billion) in 2006 to US$17.23 billion last year.

Malaysian investments in Thailand had also surpassed the RM1 billion mark.

Malaysia would give Thailand, which is taking over the chairmanship of Asean, full support in spearheading the task of forging greater regional integration and establishing the Asean Community on schedule in 2015, he said.

Samak, in his speech, said Thailand attached great importance to its relations with Malaysia, whom it regarded as its "close neighbour and strategic partner".

He expressed admiration for Abdullah for "having been able to maintain grace under pressure", adding that Malaysia was fortunate to have him as a leader.

Samak, who became prime minister on Jan 28, expressed gratitude for the cooperation rendered by the government of Malaysia to bring peace and prosperity to southern Thailand.

I honestly think that the gov has been mentioning all these corridors less often, in comparison before the election.

So, are all these corridors just want to "mengaburi mata rakyat"?

I honestly think that the gov has been mentioning all these corridors less often, in comparison before the election.

So, are all these corridors just want to "mengaburi mata rakyat"?

fyi, all these corridors are just 'on paper' only lah. and dollah so far since he took power on 2003, nothing mega project that he has announced are done. as you can see in current even on penang 2nd bridge. and lates....penang monorail.

on johor, all projects are foreigns' own development. even the immigration complex is mahathir's project.

dollah...dollah..., malulah org penang ada PM macam ni..., dan malu bagi seluruh rakyat malaysia di mata dunia:ohno:

^^ yeah akupun setuju dengan kau osh.......

Agree too.

Seriously, dulu (walaupun saya baru 17 thn) mase kecik2 slalu gak dgr all these mega projects like KLIA, MSC, Twin Towers etc. Syok gila bila dgr berita2 camni kat TV.

Skarang asyik dengar "UMNO kena pulih", "UMNO hilang kaliber" and "Kenapa BN kalah?" etc. BORING!

Penang to work with govt on NCER projects
NST Online » Local News 2008/05/04
By : Audrey Dermawan

GEORGE TOWN: The state government has agreed to adopt the Northern Corridor Implementation Agency Act 2007 for the smooth implementation of all projects under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state executive councillors gave their endorsement during Friday's exco meeting, after two months of extensive discussions.

He said he believes Penang is the first Pakatan Rakyat state within the NCER to adopt the Act. The other two PR state governments, Kedah and Perak, have not made any public statements.

Despite reservations from various quarters that the Act would give more power to the federal authority which is promoting the NCER, Lim said the state government was prepared to work with the federal government in the interests of the people.

"This is a very important decision. We are willing to co-operate with the federal authority to ensure the people here benefit from the various development projects, such as the Second Penang Bridge and the monorail project.

"I also want to give my assurance that the people's interest will not be compromised in any way," Lim said after a courtesy call by the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (Penang branch) yesterday.

Lim said he received a letter from the prime minister, dated March 28, requesting him to adopt the Act.

The Act was passed in Parliament last year and signed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on Feb 5. It was gazetted on Feb 14.

"I will hand over a letter on the state's acceptance to the prime minister personally," said Lim.

The NCER was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last July. Sime Darby Bhd was given the task of master planning the NCER, while the job of implementing the project fell to the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA).

The long-term development plan, which covers Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak, is aimed at unleashing the economic potential of the northern sector of the peninsula and and raising the income of its people.

There are 11 members, including the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the Menteris Besar and Chief Ministers of the four states, two federal ministers, a civil servant and two representatives from the private sector in the NCIA. Lim is the sole representative from Penang.

Asked to comment on the alleged land scam in the state, Lim said he would give former deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rashid Abdullah another two weeks to meet with him to discuss the issue.

The original deadline was April 28, but Lim said he was extending it after a statement by deputy opposition chief Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya that the matter was best discussed in private rather than in public.

Azizan: We are committed to Northern Corridor

ALOR STAR: The Pas-led state government is fully committed to helping the federal government realise the proposed RM177 billion Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in Kedah.

Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak said the state government had not imposed any conditions for supporting the economic blueprint, mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to develop the northern states.

"I signed numerous documents on the NCER when I met officers from the Northern Corridor Implementation Agency (NCIA) recently.

"We discussed, and I later signed, the necessary documents.

"I did not set any conditions before agreeing to support the government's initiative," he said after chairing the state Executive Council meeting here yesterday.

He said he had asked for a copy of the NCIA's development programmes for Kedah to avoid any overlapping with the various state agencies.

Azizan said he was considering setting up a special state-level committee to liaise with the Barisan Nasional federal government on development projects in Kedah.

"So far, we have no problems with the federal government and we want to avoid any difficulties in the future."

He also said the other opposition-led state governments should consider setting up their own committees to liaise with the federal government.

Japan's Ibiden investing RM1b in Penang plant
By Goh Thean Eu
Published: 2008/05/22

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Thursday/Frontpage/mida21a-2.xml/Article/Current_News/BTIMES/Images/btgraph8/ibiden.jpg

The plant, which is expected to create 900 jobs next year, will make high-performance and high-density printed wiring boards for use in mobile phones


JAPAN'S Ibiden Co Ltd, the world's biggest printed circuit board (PCB) maker, will invest at least RM1 billion to set up its third manufacturing plant in Penang.

The plant, which will make and develop multi-layer PCBs, is scheduled to operate by the third quarter of next year.

Construction of the 18.5ha facility will begin as early as next month.

About RM800 million will be spent over the next two years, mainly on construction of the plant and buying equipment from across the globe.

It is expected to create jobs for 900 Malaysians next year.

The plant will be used to manufacture high-performance and high-density printed wiring boards, which are widely used in mobile phones.

"Worldwide demand for mobile phones is expected to maintain its constant growth. The replacement demand is also anticipated to increase," Ibiden printed wiring board unit manager and executive officer Sotaro Ito said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Depending on future demand, the company may build another plant in Penang in 2011, Ito said.

Its existing two plants are located in the Seberang Jaya and Prai industrial areas.

Ibiden's investment is a big boost for Malaysia's foreign direct investment (FDI).

Japanese investments in the manufacturing sector have been increasing significantly since 2003.

The Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) is optimistic that FDI from Japan will surpass its record last year when the country brought in RM6.52 billion, up 48 per cent from RM4.4 billion in 2006.

"If we can close the deals we are working on, I am confident that we can easily match or surpass last year's number," Mida director-general Datuk R. Karunakaran said.

Between January and March this year, 13 projects from Japan were approved in various industries, with capital investment of RM270 million, excluding investment by Ibiden.

International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be leading a trade and investment mission to Japan in July.

Seminars and roundtable meetings will be organised in Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo.

Mida will also send technical teams and specific product missions to attract Japanese investment in areas such as food ingredients; functional and halal food; petrochemical and polymers; specialised machinery for electrical, electronics and metal working industries; flat panel display; and semiconductors and electronic components.

Guan Eng: Credit goes to Penangites
by Regina William
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com


PENANG: Who should get the credit for bringing billion-dollar investments into the state? If you ask Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, the answer is the people of Penang.

Ask his predecessor, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, and he’ll say that Lim should not claim credit for the goundwork done by the previous state government.

The two leaders have been engaged in a public spat since the March 8 general election, when Koh’s Barisan Nasional government was ousted by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, to which Lim belongs.

Their current quarrel concerns two investment deals that were sealed following the change of government. Honeywell Aeorspace has announced that it is pumping RM115.2 million while Japan’s Ibiden Co Ltd has pledged to put in RM1.2 billion in the state.

“The people of Penang deserve to be recognised for the hard work they have put in,” Lim said yesterday. “There were many who played roles in clinching the investments.”

Koh had said Lim should “thank” the previous state government and give credit where it was due instead of claiming glory.

“Will that make him happy?” Lim hit back yesterday. “All I want to say is that it is the hard work of the people of Penang and let us give credit to them.

“There are various stages and everyone has a role in it. The hardest bit of all is the final part, the clinching of the deal and we had a tough time trying to do that even with Ibiden, but we did it,” he added.

Speaking after the ground-breaking ceremony of Ibiden’s RM1.2 billion plant at the Penang Science Park in Bukit Tengah, he dismissed as “insincere” Koh’s view that the present state government should be able to garner RM10 billion in investments this year due to the hard work put in by Koh’s administration.

During a Gerakan seminar last Thursday, Koh had reportedly said that foreign direct investments into Penang could reach RM10 billion if the state government had the right strategy.

“We want to focus on what we can achieve,” Lim retorted. “If he (Koh) had said this when he was the chief minister it would have been different.

“Why didn’t he say this last year? Saying this now is not so right, and we will just leave it at that. He is just making a political statement and I don’t think it is a sincere assessment.”

In a thinly veiled reference to Koh, Lim said it was inappropriate for certain parties to make announcements on investors who were planning to invest in Penang.

“It is the company which should make the announcement, not this government or anyone else. I would prefer that this be done only when the company has decided.

“That is why we have not made any announcements and I regret certain statements made by some quarters claiming that certain companies are coming to invest in Penang. I do not think that will help our investment efforts as strict confidentiality is required.

“These people who have 18 years of experience in these areas do not appear (to respect) this basic requirement of confidentiality,” Lim said. Koh led Penang for 18 years.

“If you look at the negative aspect, this may be an effort to discourage investments and it is not a responsible statement,” added Lim.

On his recent trip to Korea and Hong Kong, Lim said the aim of the Hong Kong trip was to reintroduce Penang as a tourism hub while the trip to South Korea was to win the trust of investors.

Ibiden plans to build second plant in Penang
by Regina Wiliam
Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com


PENANG: Japan’s Ibiden Co Ltd, which is investing RM1.2 billion to set up a manufacturing plant at the Penang Science Park to develop multilayer printed circuit boards (PCB), is looking at multiplying its investment in 2011 when it embarks on the second phase of its operations here.

Ibiden executive officer (PWB unit manager) Ito Sotaro said although there were no concrete plans for a second phase right now, the company was planning to set up a second plant similar in size and investment right next to the first plant on a 18.53ha site in Bukit Tengah.

Sotaro said the first plant would create 900 jobs by the third quarter of 2009, and the second plant would also create as many jobs.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony officiated by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Sotaro said: “If things go according to our expectations, there is no reason for us to move and we will remain here.”

“We have already reserved land next to this facility and if everything goes well, we will proceed with Phase Two in 2011. However, in order to make that happen, we need the market to grow,” he said.

Once completed in 2010, Ibiden Electronics Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s plant is expected to produce 40,000 sq metres of PCBs per month. Sotaro said the setting up of the facility in Malaysia would not affect its production and operations at its plants in Japan and China.

Asked why Ibiden chose Penang over Nilai, where it had contemplated making an RM700 million investment, Sotaro said the site in Nilai did not meet Ibiden’s requirements.

“We received a very nice offer in Penang and we liked it, so we decided to settle here,” he said, adding that when operations started, Ibiden would strive to source for 100% local materials to support the local small and medium industries.

Meanwhile, Lim said the specially set up new taskforce headed by him would focus on critical and large investments above RM1 billion to facilitate smooth implementation of the projects.

“The taskforce would speedily resolve any problems that may arise,” Lim said. He said buoyed by Ibiden’s investment, the state government was also hopeful other Japanese investors would be encouraged to invest in Penang.

Lim said in 2007, Japanese companies accounted for RM47 million out of the total RM3.1 billion investments in Penang.

“This sum is only 1.5% of the total investments in Penang and we hope Japanese companies will increase their investments in Penang by at least 10 times more, following Ibiden’s move and confidence in Penang.

“We have the capacity, capability and potential to fulfil the expectations and requirements of high-tech companies and we will work closely with investors to ensure they have a trouble-free transition when they start their operations here,” he added.

First Solar opens RM2bil plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park
By V. CHANDRASEKARAN


KULIM: Kulim Hi-Tech Park is a step closer to becoming a manufacturing hub for solar panels with the official opening of US-based First Solar Inc's inaugural RM2.2bil plant yesterday.

Kedah Industry, Investment, Science and Innovation committee chairman Amiruddin Hamzah said other investors in the industry were also showing interest in the park.

“If everything goes well, we plan to turn Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) into a hub for solar panels manufacturing,” he said yesterday.

Amiruddin said this after officiating at the plant opening on behalf of Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak.

The first solar panel manufacturing operations in Asia, First Solar occupies a 40ha site, making it the biggest investor in the park in terms of land area.

First Solar makes solar panels or thin film photovoltaic panels used for generating solar power for export to Europe.

It started its first plant in Ohio in the US nine years ago, opened its second plant in Germany last year and its third in KHTP.

First Solar president Bruce Sohn said the new plant would create 2,000 jobs.

“When our four plants are up and fully running late in 2009, the 16 lines will be churning out over 700 megawatts (MW) of the company’s 1 GW of worldwide capacity – 70% of our total output,” he said.

On local content, he said it would be about 10% compared with 50% at its German plant.

He also said First Solar was keen to expand in the region but had no immediate plans.

Kedah wants to make KHTP a photovoltaic hub
23 Jul 2008 3:51 PM
THEEDGEDAILY

KULIM: The Kedah state government is keen to turn the Kulim Hi Tech Park (KHTP) into a hub for solar photovoltaic industry following the RM2.2 billion investment by US-based First Solar Inc which will provide 2,000 jobs for Malaysians when fully operational at end-2009.

The state government was hopeful that more solar companies would be be spurred on to follow First Solar’s footstep which has set up its largest manufacturing base at the KHTP, said Kedah industries, innovation, science and technology committee chairman Amiruddin Hamzah at the official opening of the first of First Solar’s four manufacturing plants.

First Solar is the cost leader in the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, driven by an advanced thin film semiconductor manufacturing process. As at end-2007, 300 megawatts (MW) of First Solar PV modules have been installed worldwide.

The four solar module manufacturing plants being constructed now are the company’s first such Asia-based facilities, which will have a combined annual capacity of 720MW solar modules with 16 lines running.

The Kulim facilities will produce 72% of First Solar’s annual capacity goal of one gigawatt worldwide.

First Solar president Bruce Sohn said: “Our expansion into Asia enables us to achieve cost reductions through economies of scale in a high quality manufacturing environment and help us achieve our goals and objectives.

“We realised early that a manufacturing presence on this continent, specifically in this country, was imperative to establish a global footprint, and this is why we became the first solar company to invest in Malaysia, a lead that others are following.

“For us, to truly solve the world’s environmental and geo-political problems, we must supplant old, dirty forms of energy with clean, renewable and sustainable solar electricity. To do this effectively, we must eventually be able to compete based on fundamental economics,” he said.

Besides offering renewable source of energy, First Solar also offers a fully funded programme where it commits to take back its modules, separate the metals from glass, purify the materials and eventually make new modules, making the product part of a comprehensive cradle-to-cradle process.

Singapore, Hong Kong And Dubai To Be Guides To Develop Penang's Economy
July 29, 2008 16:50 PM

PENANG, July 29 (Bernama) -- The Penang state government will use the successes of Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai as guides to restore the strength of the state's economy.

State Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs committee chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said those economies were chosen based on common factors and background with Penang.

He said the successes of the three areas need to be taken as role models if the state wanted to continue competing with them.

During the winding-up debate on the motion of thanks for the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas' speech, in the State Legislative Assembly, Abdul Malik said Penang had a similar historical past, culture and languages as Singapore; had a similar structure and hinterland as Hong Kong; and was also a popular tourist destination and trade centre like Dubai.

Abdul Malik also said Penang had the potential to be an international 'halal' hub with its manufacturing, packaging, marketing, research and development facilities and human resources.

He said Penang would cooperate with the Chulalongkorn University of Thailand on 'halal' certification given that institution's expertise and ability in the field.

This was however slammed by Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya (BN-Telok Bahang) who urged the state government to give priority to the expertise and facilities available in local universities like Universiti Sains Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA

always nuthin is for sure...freakin annoyin.....and freakin frustrating....maybe the actual problem worldwide and esp malaysia is, people are letting all the old generation to rule the country and all the power greedy assholes...i think that is the f**kin problem with the country and everywhere..don't u all think that actually it's f**kin absurd everywhere the mentally deranged oldies are ruling and always ending up in problem...no creative mind......i think we all fail to realize this...why aren't there young bright intelligent and brilliant people ruling countries and nations.....i think it's the main mistake everywhere......should let the slightly younger and smarter generation to rule the country....all these lau lang lau lang in the politics only know how to fight , argue , be sentimental and emotional and waste time talking and debating....there is hardly any action....people should think about all these......older people ussually hardly have vision...all they wanna do is to earn money and settle down and live a relaxing life.......they don't actually think bout modernization and advancement of living....younger generations with visions should fight for their right and voice out about their potentials.......

Poser over fate of Dell ops in Penang
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2008/09/08


A Dell spokesman in Penang says it does not typically comment on rumour or speculation, after a newspaper report that the personal computer maker will sell its plants worldwide

THE fate of the world's second-biggest personal computer (PC) maker Dell Inc's operations in Malaysia is unclear, in the wake of news reports on Friday that the American technology giant is considering to sell its factories.

The PC maker has a manufacturing facility in Bukit Minyak on mainland Penang where more than 1,500 people are employed.

Dell also operates a call centre on Penang island, at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, where over 1,000 people work.

The Financial Times this weekend reported that Dell had approached contract manufacturers - companies that make electronics equipment on behalf of name-brand groups - about taking over the plants.

"The original story is not based on any announcement by Dell, and we typically don't comment on rumour or speculation," a Dell spokesman in Penang told Business Times when contacted.

"We have said many times there are opportunities to use third-party manufacturers to reduce costs and increase efficiency. How best to do so is being evaluated," he added.

In a memo emailed to all staff worldwide, Dell president for global operations Mike Cannon sought to address employee concerns and questions following the "speculative" news report.

"Here is what we are doing ...We continue to evaluate and optimise our global manufacturing and distribution network, including our relationships with original design manufacturers, to better meet customer needs and reduce product cycle times.

"Our goal is to introduce the latest relevant technology more quickly and to rapidly pass on component cost-savings to our customers worldwide," he said, adding that Dell is also actively reviewing all aspects of its logistics, supply chain and manufacturing footprints.

"We recognise that these are complex issues, and depending on what decisions are ultimately made, they could have a significant impact on some employees and communities.

"We are working through these issues carefully and thoughtfully, and we are committed to communicating with you in an open, honest and timely manner," Cannon said in the memo.

The history of Dell's manufacturing presence in Penang dates back to 1996. The Bukit Minyak facility is engaged in producing desktop and laptop computers, along with PC systems.

Halal port proposal for Penang
By K.KASTURI DEWI


THE Penang Government should explore the possibility of turning part of Penang Port into a halal port to take opportunity of the existing halal product industry in Southern Thailand.

State Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim who made the proposal, said yesterday that products from Southern Thailand were currently being exported from Bangkok.

“Logistically, it would be cheaper and convenient for the products to be exported through Penang and this is an area that the state could tap into,’’ he told reporters after a press con-ference on the setting up of an international halal hub in the state.

He said part of the port could be converted into a port similar to the one in Hamburg, Germany, complete with cold room facilities, storage area and all other related facilities based on the halal concept.

Abdul Malik also said the state would look at tapping into the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMTGT) to attract investors for such an industry here.

“A business entourage will be leaving for Acheh at the end of October to look into this,’’ he said.

“The halal product industry is now a trillion dollar business and is continuing to expand as the industry is beyond the boundaries of race and religion. It is based more on the concept of purity, quality and cleanliness,’’ he said.

Abdul Malik added that with the growing global demand for such products, Penang was taking the opportunity to identify an industrial area in Batu Kawan as a halal park and another area in Balik Pulau for tourism and health tourism based on international halal concept.

He said the state was in the midst of setting up a Halal Development Corporation office here to help those who had yet to obtain the certification and newcomers to the industry to get registered.

He added that a task force set up by the state comprising the joint Chamber of Commerces, Halal Food Manufacturers Association, Halal Logistic Companies Consortium, Halal Deve-lopment Corporation, InvestPenang, Matta and other related agencies would hold its first meeting in the second week of October.

“The task force was set up to compile a database of the existing industry players and to promote and market Penang as a halal hub to draw in investors.

“At the moment, we have 81 halal food produces listed and we would like to encourage more in the industry to get registered to have better networking,’’ he added.

whats the progress of PENANG SENTRAL.....

Sime Darby among firms keen to develop Jerejak
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2008/09/23


SIME Darby Bhd is one out of four investors that are keen to develop Pulau Jerejak in Penang.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday said the other three investors are foreigners which will be backing local firms.

The foreign parties are from the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

Without revealing details, he said Sime Darby plans to invest in a tourism-related project and this is linked to the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).



"We have received tremendous interest for the holistic development of Pulau Jerejak from Middle Eastern investors and Sime Darby is the first local conglomerate to express its interest," Lim told a press conference at Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak after receiving Sime Darby's president and group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid.

Present was Invest-in-Penang Bhd executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon.

The NCER blueprint which was launched last year by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi states that Pulau Jerejak, which once served as a penal and leper colony, has been earmarked for a premier medical tourism centre.

The 362-hectare island, which is off the coast of Penang island, has so far seen only 32ha jointly developed by the Penang Development Corp and USA Holdings in the form of the Jerejak Resort and Spa.

Lim said the development of Pulau Jerejak would run into billions of ringgit and would span 10 years.

"The state government will likely open a tender for this project by the end of the year and all interested parties can forward their proposals then," he added.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on a news report that monorail system supplier Scomi Engineering Bhd is still keen on Penang, Lim said:

"Who is going to fund this monorail system? Previously, the federal government said it would fund the capital expenditure for this project but it has since said no."

Shahidan is NCER adviser





KUALA LUMPUR: Former Perlis menteri besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim has been appointed special adviser to the prime minister for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). The appointment took effect yesterday, the prime minister's office said in a statement yesterday. It said Shahidan's main duties were to advise and assist the prime minister in achieving the NCER's vision and mission. -- Bernama

Two major projects for northern growth corridor
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2008/10/11
BusinessTimes

THE Northern Corridor Implementation Agency (NCIA), the implementation body for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), will soon launch a biotechnology incubator in Penang and a high-technology skills development centre in Kedah.

These projects are part of the Ninth Malaysia Plan's key initiatives outlined for the economic growth corridor.

The biotechnology incubator will be located at the Penang Science Park, Bukit Minyak, on mainland Penang and will cover 2ha of land.

"We have submitted our application to the Penang Development Corp this week to purchase the land," NCIA senior vice-president (manufacturing industry division) Chris Tan told Business Times yesterday.

Tan said the incubator will complement the national biotechnology drive, and leverage on NCER's manufacturing strengths such as in the area of electrical and electronics.

He said the incubator will operate on a "full-service" model, which is designed to accelerate commercialisation.

Other areas of focus will include the medical devices sector.

"We hope to get the incubator up and running by the third quarter of 2009," he said.

"We are looking at offering in-house biotechnology incubator services to the park's tenants as a way to assist capable scientists, especially Malaysians who want to return and work here," he added.

The 176-ha Penang Science Park was launched in 2006 to attract new investments from the biotechnology industries.

To date, the park has attracted over RM100 million in investments from three companies involved in the manufacturing of biotechnological products and medical devices.

NCIA is also set to ink a memorandum of understanding next week with three multinational companies in Kulim, Kedah for the Northern Corridor Industrial Training Enhancement Scheme.

"Since human resource availability has restricted expansion of the Kulim High Technology Park, we are going to work together on a pilot project with Infineon Technologies, Entergris and Fuji Electric to train unemployed graduates," Tan said.

He added that the proposed training centre, in which NCIA will contribute RM1 million to provide subsistence allowance for 65 trainees, will offer a 12-month internship beginning early next year.

"We want to expand the NCER's manufacturing capabilities beyond Penang and we hope to replicate the success of the Penang Skills Development Centre," Tan said.

Kegiatan ekonomi NCER terbantut diteruskan

KANGAR 21 Nov. - Kegiatan ekonomi di bawah projek-projek pembangunan dalam Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) yang kini agak terbantut akan digerakkan secara berterusan terutamanya yang melibatkan rakyat di peringkat bawahan.

Penasihat Khas kepada Perdana Menteri mengenai Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER), Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim berkata, projek itu harus digerakkan secara berterusan walaupun dengan mengadakan aktiviti ekonomi secara kecil-kecilan.

Katanya: ''Rakyat di peringkat itu akan digerakkan dengan aktiviti-aktiviti ekonomi yang benar-benar sesuai yang mampu menjana pendapatan mereka.''

Shahidan berkata, pihaknya akan berbincang dengan Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) untuk melihat sejauh mana penekanan boleh diberikan kepada kegiatan ekonomi yang melibatkan rakyat bawahan.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita selepas mengetuai kegiatan gotong royong di Bukit Chenderawasih di sini, semalam.

Menurut Shahidan, beliau akan menemui Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif NCIA, Datuk Seri Mohd. Anuar Zaini pada 27 November ini untuk berbincang mengenai perkara itu.

"NCIA diharap memberi perhatian tentang perkara ini dan beliau (Anuar) boleh menggerakkan usaha-usaha menggiatkan ekonomi rakyat bawahan," katanya.

Shahidan juga berharap agar rakyat yang menyertai aktiviti-aktiviti ekonomi di bawah projek NCER berupaya mendapat pendapatan melebihi RM1,000 sebulan.

hmmm

NCER punyai potensi industri minyak wangi

PADANG BESAR 1 Dis. - Industri minyak wangi antara yang dikenal pasti berpotensi dilaksanakan di dalam kawasan Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER), kata Penasihat Khas kepada Perdana Menteri Bagi NCER, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim hari ini.

Menurutnya, minyak wangi bukan sahaja mendapat permintaan yang tinggi di dalam dan luar negara, malah harganya juga tinggi sehingga mencecah RM3,500 bagi setiap 12 mililiter (ml) di negara-negara di Timur Tengah.

"Industri minyak wangi adalah cadangan Perdana Menteri yang mahu kewujudan industri yang unik dan berpotensi dilaksanakan." katanya selepas melawat kilang pemprosesan pengeluaran pati gaharu, Hayat Green (M) Sdn. Bhd. di Batu Bertangkup, Chuping dekat sini, hari ini.

Di negara ini, katanya, tidak banyak syarikat yang mengusahakan pengeluaran pati gaharu bagi membuat minyak atar dan sekiranya ada, ia dilakukan secara kontrak dengan negara luar dan patinya dihantar ke sana seterusnya mendapat jenama di negara tersebut.

"Saya telah berbincang dengan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) (Datuk Seri Mohd Anuar Zaini) dan pengurusan NCER bagi memberi penekanan dalam projek penghasilan minyak atar ini dan projek lain yang sedang dilaksanakan," katanya.

Beliau juga akan berbincang dengan pemimpin utama di setiap negeri yang berada di bawah projek NCER bagi menyediakan tapak untuk dijadikan kawasan industri pengeluaran minyak wangi.

Two major projects for northern growth corridor
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2008/10/11

THE Northern Corridor Implementation Agency (NCIA), the implementation body for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), will soon launch a biotechnology incubator in Penang and a high-technology skills development centre in Kedah.

These projects are part of the Ninth Malaysia Plan's key initiatives outlined for the economic growth corridor.

The biotechnology incubator will be located at the Penang Science Park, Bukit Minyak, on mainland Penang and will cover 2ha of land.

"We have submitted our application to the Penang Development Corp this week to purchase the land," NCIA senior vice-president (manufacturing industry division) Chris Tan told Business Times yesterday.

Tan said the incubator will complement the national biotechnology drive, and leverage on NCER's manufacturing strengths such as in the area of electrical and electronics.

He said the incubator will operate on a "full-service" model, which is designed to accelerate commercialisation.

Other areas of focus will include the medical devices sector.

"We hope to get the incubator up and running by the third quarter of 2009," he said.

"We are looking at offering in-house biotechnology incubator services to the park's tenants as a way to assist capable scientists, especially Malaysians who want to return and work here," he added.

The 176-ha Penang Science Park was launched in 2006 to attract new investments from the biotechnology industries.

To date, the park has attracted over RM100 million in investments from three companies involved in the manufacturing of biotechnological products and medical devices.

NCIA is also set to ink a memorandum of understanding next week with three multinational companies in Kulim, Kedah for the Northern Corridor Industrial Training Enhancement Scheme.

"Since human resource availability has restricted expansion of the Kulim High Technology Park, we are going to work together on a pilot project with Infineon Technologies, Entergris and Fuji Electric to train unemployed graduates," Tan said.

He added that the proposed training centre, in which NCIA will contribute RM1 million to provide subsistence allowance for 65 trainees, will offer a 12-month internship beginning early next year.

"We want to expand the NCER's manufacturing capabilities beyond Penang and we hope to replicate the success of the Penang Skills Development Centre," Tan said.

Tiga projek utama NCER dikenal pasti
Oleh Adha Ghazali
adha@bharian.com.my

KANGAR: Kerajaan negeri mengenal pasti tiga projek utama untuk dibangunkan dalam Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) di Perlis, sekali gus menolak tanggapan program pembangunan dicadangkan itu hanya sekadar berstatus projek gajah putih.

Menteri Besar Perlis, Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu, berkata tiga projek terbabit meliputi usaha menaik taraf Kuala Perlis sebagai pekan pelabuhan, perusahaan industri minyak gaharu dan pembangunan Padang Besar sebagai pelabuhan darat.

Bagaimanapun katanya, beberapa projek lain termasuk Pusat Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan (R&D) Benih di Sungai Batu Pahat dan Projek Hab Halal di Padang Besar tetap diteruskan.

Md Isa berkata, keputusan menumpukan kepada tiga projek utama terbabit dicapai melalui satu mesyuarat khas NCER, baru-baru ini, yang turut disertai ketua kerajaan tiga lagi negeri anggota NCER iaitu Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Perak.

"Berdasarkan penilaian kerajaan negeri melihat keperluan besar kepada dua daripada tiga projek yang disenaraikan iaitu pembangunan Kuala Perlis sebagai pekan pelabuhan serta depoh kontena darat di Padang Besar, terhadap jaringan pembangunan ekonomi NCER termasuk Perlis sendiri.

"Sementara industri minyak gaharu pula dilihat mempunyai potensi besar selain unik untuk dibangunkan. Malah, Perlis juga dijangka tidak berdepan masalah untuk menguruskannya," katanya kepada pemberita di sini, semalam.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas kenyataan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, mengenai status peruntukan kepada kelima-lima koridor ekonomi negara dalam Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) yang tidak akan dikurangkan, walaupun dalam keadaan ketidaktentuan ekonomi global ketika ini.

NCER dilancarkan Perdana Menteri pada 30 Julai tahun lalu meliputi empat negeri di utara semenanjung iaitu Kedah, Perlis, Pulau Pinang dan Utara Perak dengan suntikan modal RM177 bilion bagi tempoh 18 tahun antara 2007 hingga 2025.

Antara projek yang disenarai di bawah NCER di Perlis termasuk pembangunan Pusat R&D Benih bernilai RM40 juta, pembinaan Taman Teknologi ketiga negara dikenali sebagai Pusat Biotek Herba Perlis (PBHP) dengan kos RM25 juta, pembangunan Padang Besar sebagai bandar sekitar sempadan selain hab utama industri halal melalui Halal Hab bernilai RM10 juta. Selain itu, sebuah depoh kontena darat juga akan dibina bagi menampung keperluan industri import eksport.

Perlis Do Not Want NCER Project To Be A White Elephant
December 14, 2008 20:35 PM

KANGAR, Dec 14 (Bernama)-- Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu wants to ensure that projects under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) would not be just white elephants.

He said three projects in Perlis under NCER - the Kuala Perlis port, Agarwood Oil Industry and Dry Port in Padang Besar (an inland commercial depot) - are expected to take off.

Dr Md Isa added that other proposed projects like the National Seed Centre (NSC) for the research and development of paddy seeds in Sungai Batu Pahat and the Halal Hub project in Padang Besar would not be shelved.

He added that a decision on the three projects was made during a special NCER meeting recently that was also attended by heads of three other states involved in the NCER - Kedah, Penang and Perak.

"The Kuala Perlis port and dry port in Padang Besar would be a big boost to the Perlis economy," he told reporters after launching a circumcision ceremony organised by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in association with the Kampung Ujong Bukit Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) here Sunday.

There would also be no problems in the setting up of the Agarwood Oil industry which has a very huge potential, he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had assured that the government had no plans to reduce allocations for the five proposed economic corridors under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9) although there was uncertainty in the global economy.

The 18-year NCER master plan aims to implement 17 new infrastructure projects with an estimated inward investment of RM178 billion and create employment opportunities for about 540,000 in the region within the next 17 years (2008 to 2025).

He added that however so far only the Biotechnology Research Centre project at Sungai Batu Pahat, managed by the Technology Park Malaysia and the state Forestry Department, has taken off while the others have not started.

"The Halal Hub project in Padang Besar at an estimated cost of RM10 million has been delayed due to land acquisition matters," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Koridor Utara adalah projek pembangunan ekonomi yang berbeza dari Iskandar. Umum melihat Koridor Utara sebagai sebuah wilayah ekonomi yang kerdil. Namun ramai yang tidak sedar bahawa melalui Koridor Utara, sebuah enjin pembangunan ekonomi dunia yang tulen sedang dibangunkan iaitu sektor pertanian. Industri pertanian dan perusahaan makanan adalah berkaitan dengan kelangsungan hidup manusia. Tanpa makanan yang mencukupi, maka pembangunan infrastruktur lain tidak memberi sebarang makna. Namun, setakat ini, tiada sebarang usaha yang jelas dilakukan bagi meyakinkan rakyat tentang peri pentingnya sektor pertanian secara total. Rakyat masih lagi disogok dengan pelbagai pembangunan material. Rakyat tidak diajak untuk melihat Koridor Utara yang memiliki pemandangan yang memukau sebagai destinasi alternatif kepada kekusutan kota raya bagi meneruskan kehidupan dan membesarkan generasi akan datang.

I think if you factor in other part of johor to be the food,agricultural,raw material contributor to iskandar,so you get the whole holistic approach that similar to NCER

NCER Project Implementation Is According To Schedule




KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (Bernama) -- The implementation of programmes and development projects of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) is proceeding according to schedule, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Amirsham A Aziz said the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) was constantly striving to ensure that every programme and project was undertaken at the soonest.

He said this when answering a question from Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) on the implementation of the NCER which appeared very slow and Sime Darby Bhd as the main driver, did not seem keen on it.

To date, of the 40 programmes and projects confirmed for the NCER, a total of 17 or 42.5 percent were underway at various stages of implementation, said Amirsham.

According to him, among the key programmes and projects that have started to be implemented are improvements to roads within the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) farm,access road to the farming area in Kedah,the women's entrepreneur programme in the Kulim High Tech Park, improvements to the ferry terminal in Kuala Perlis, the development of a padi nursery farm in Kerian,Perak, the sustainable community development programme in Kampung Sungai Kerang, Perak and Kampung Bukit Kura, Kedah, the Educational City Hostel in Taiping and the digital resource centre in Taiping.

Amirsham explained that Sime Darby's role at the launch of the NCER was to spearhead the provision of the NCER masterplan.

"The implementation of programmes and projects has been handed to the NCIA as the responsible authority for overseeing the NCER and its planned development," he said.

However, he said, Sime Darby was still involved in the investment programme and projects initiative by the private sector as a corporate social responsibility.

Among the projects undertaken by the conglomerate is the planting of sweet corn in a 300-acre area in Bukit Tangga, Kedah with an investment of RM4 million, an RM8 million investment in the "Agropreneur Development Program" which is an initiative to erradicate poverty through entrepreneurship in agriculture, the establishment of a seed research centre in cooperation with the Perlis state government through an investment of RM10 million and the setting up a RM16 million model padi farm in Ladang Gedung in Bagan Serai, Perak,using the latest technology and irrigation system.

Apart from these, Sime Darby will also undertake other agriculture related activities in areas owned by it in the future, said Amirsham.

-- BERNAMA

NCER rancakkan pembangunan Sayong Riverfront


KUALA KANGSAR 26 Mei - Industri pelancongan di daerah ini dijangka akan lebih berkembang maju dengan adanya tumpuan terhadap projek-projek pembangunan bernilai RM20 juta yang sedang dilaksanakan oleh kerajaan.

Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd. Kadir berkata, usaha termasuk membangunkan Sayong Riverfront tersebut sedang giat dilaksanakan menerusi pembangunan Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER).

''Pembangunan Sayong Riverfront ini tentunya akan merancakkan lagi industri pelancongan di daerah ini yang memang telah terkenal dengan keistimewaan tersendiri yang tidak terdapat di daerah lain," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika berucap merasmikan bangunan baru Wisma Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Kangsar (MPKK) oleh Sultan Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah di sini kelmarin.

Berangkat sama pada majlis tersebut ialah Raja Permaisuri Perak, Tuanku Bainun, Raja di Hilir Perak, Raja Jaafar ibni Almarhum Raja Muda Musa dan Raja Puan Muda, Raja Normahani Raja Shahar Shah.

Menurut Zambry, selain Sayong Riverfront, antara projek yang sedang dimajukan ialah pembesaran rumah rehat dengan kos bernilai RM3.3 juta dan pembinaan Dewan Jubli hasil kerjasama Kerajaan Pusat dan negeri.

Selain projek-projek mega katanya, Kerajaan Pusat melalui Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan juga akan melaksanakan projek-projek kecil membabitkan aspek kemudahan awam dengan peruntukan RM5.5 juta.

Kata Zambry, penduduk Kuala Kangsar seharusnya bersyukur dengan keprihatinan yang ditunjukkan oleh kerajaan kerana secara tidak langsung usaha tersebut akan meningkatkan sumber ekonomi masyarakat setempat.

Mengulas tentang Sayong Waterfront, katanya, fasa pertama projek dengan kos bernilai RM3.2 juta itu dijangka siap pada September ini.

Sementara itu, beliau menyatakan harapan kepada semua ahli majlis di negeri ini supaya berperanan lebih aktif dalam memahami masalah rakyat agar setiap masalah yang ditimbulkan tersebut dapat diatasi dengan baik.

''Jawatan ini adalah amanah dan satu tanggungjawab di mana kita perlu melaksanakan dan melakukannya bersungguh-sungguh supaya rakyat mendapat faedah dengan kehadiran kita," katanya.

Dalam masa sama, beliau mengingatkan pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT) supaya bertindak lebih berkesan dalam melaksanakan tugas diamanahkan.

''Petugas PBT adalah penyambung antara rakyat dan kerajaan kerana itu perlunya kita turun padang untuk mengetahui sendiri masalah yang berlaku dan membawanya ke tengah untuk sama-sama kita selesaikan," katanya.

NCIA Willing To Fund Belum-Temenggor Management Plan
June 18, 2009 19:13 PM

GERIK, June 18 (Bernama) -- The Northern Corridor Implementing Agency (NCIA) is prepared to provide the funds and assistance in preparing an integrated management master plan for the Belum-Temenggor Rainforest, near here.

NCIA chief executive Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Annuar Zaini said efforts to draw up the master plan was among the most significant and preliminary measures needed to develop the tourism potentials for the 300,000-hectare rainforest area that was more than 130 million years old.

He said the offer to provide the funds and assistance by the NCIA was subject to the agreement of the Perak state government as the rainforest area belonged to the Perak government.

"Of course in doing such a massive job, the NCIA needs the assistance of the state government, the relevant authorities, the private sector and also non-governmental organisations to come up with the master plan," he told reporters after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the NCIA and Pulau Banding Foundation at the Belum Rainforest Resort, Pulau Banding, 40 kilometers from here, today.

Mohd Annuar said there was a huge potential for tourism in the Belum-Temengor Rainforest area which needed substantial funds and the NCIA would give whatever support and assistance within its means to help the state government in developing the tourism potentials in the area.

With the signing of the MoU, the NCIA will take the lead to develop an integrated management master plan for Belum-Temengor with technical support provided by the Pulau Banding Foundation.



-- BERNAMA

Zambry pledges to speed up Nothern Corridor project
Wednesday June 24 2009

GRIK, June 24 – The Perak state government will speed up the implementation of the master plan for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in an effort to develop Hulu Perak, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said the step was necessary after the NCER was not implemented well while the state was under the opposition for 11 months.

“The implementation must be activated to ensure development is speeded up for the area,” he told reporters after chairing the state executive meeting and attending a people’s feast at Kampung Plang here today.

Zambry said the Perak state government will review all plans and implementation of the NCER at the state level to ensure it gave focus to develop the Gerik and Pengkalan Hulu areas in line with the master plan.

To ensure the effectiveness of the action, he said, the state government will have a meeting again at Pengkalan Hulu next month to assess the progress made.

He also said the state government had directed that investigation be done on allegations of logging in prohibited areas including water catchment areas in Hulu Perak.

Zambry said he will check if such activities were illegal or were being done in areas that were approved during the time of the opposition rule in Perak.

He said the probe was to enable the state government to stop logging in sensitive areas.

“We will replace with other areas if approval had been given,” he said.

Zambry said the state government under his leadership had never approved logging in water catchment areas. – Bernama

NCER akan disegerakan - Dr. Zambry

GERIK 24 Jun - Kerajaan negeri akan menyegerakan pelaksanaan pelan induk projek Koridor Ekonomi Wilayah Utara (NCER) dalam usaha memajukan daerah Hulu Perak.

Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir berkata, langkah itu dibuat setelah pelaksanaan NCER tidak berjalan dengan lancar sejak ia ditadbir oleh kerajaan pakatan pembangkang.

Beliau berkata, pelan pelaksanaan NCER itu sepatutnya telah diaktifkan bagi memastikan pembangunan dapat dipercepatkan.

"Saya akan mengaktifkan semula pelan pelaksanaan bagi memastikan pembangunan di kawasan ini berjalan lancar," katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Exco dan menghadiri jamuan rakyat di Kampung Plang, dekat sini hari ini.

Zambry berkata, pihaknya akan mengadakan pertemuan sekali lagi di Pengkalan Hulu bulan depan untuk menilai kemajuan yang telah dicapai.

Mengenai aktiviti operasi pembalakan di daerah itu, beliau berkata, kerajaan negeri telah mengarahkan siasatan dijalankan di kawasan-kawasan larangan termasuk kawasan tadahan air di Hulu Perak.

"Kita akan meneliti sama ada ia adalah benar-benar operasi haram atau kawasan berkenaan diluluskan pada era pakatan pembangkang memerintah negeri ini," katanya.

Bagaimanapun beliau menegaskan kerajaan negeri di bawah kepimpinan beliau tidak pernah meluluskan sebarang kegiatan membalak di kawasan-kawasan tadahan air.

Perak Will Help To Speed Up NCER Project
June 24, 2009 17:48 PM

GERIK, June 24 (Bernama) -- The Perak state government will speed up the implementation of the master plan for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in an effort to develop Hulu Perak, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said the step was necessary after the NCER was not implemented well while the state was under the opposition for 11 months.

'The implementation must be activated to ensure development is sped up for the area," he told reporters after chairing the state executive meeting and attending a people's feast at Kampung Plang here today.

Zambry said the Perak state government will review all plans and implementation of the NCER at the state level to ensure it gave focus to develop the Gerik and Pengkalan Hulu areas in line with the master plan.

He said to ensure the effectiveness of the action the state government will have a meeting again at Pengkalan Hulu next month to assess the progress made.

He also said the state government had directed that investigation be done on allegations of logging in prohibited areas including water catchment areas in Hulu Perak.

Zambry said he will check if such activities were illegal or were being done in areas that were approved during the time of the opposition rule in Perak.

He said the probe was to enable the state government to stop logging in sensitive areas.

"We will replace with other areas if approval had been given," he said.

Zambry said the state government under his leadership had never approved logging in water catchment areas.

-- BERNAMA

Perak Targets To Be Country's Major Food Producer By 2015
June 25, 2009 17:55 PM

SUNGAI SIPUT, June 25 (Bernama) -- Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said Thursday he is confident Perak can achieve its target of becoming the country's major food-producing state by 2015.

He said the target could be met through the implementation of eight core policies, with one major element being to emulate the success of the Delaware Valley in becoming a major food producer in the United States.

"We are targeting Perak to become the backbone of our nation's food production and, as such, we will establish large-scale agricultural industries by recognising agricultural valleys such as the vegetable and fruit valleys in Batang Padang and the Boer goat-breeding farm in Lenggong, Gerik and Selama.

"Other areas identified are Manjung District, Pengkalan Hulu and the Kerian Valley," he told a news conference after opening Agrofest 2009, here.

Dr Zambry said that through the valley-zoning programme, contract-farming plantations would be established by the local people with the collaboration of large investors.

He said that though there would be agricultural sectors involving foreign participation, the government would ensure that technology was transferred to the local people.

All idle padi land had been reopened and placed under the supervision of the Agriculture Department, he said.

He also said that the state government also wanted to expand biotechnology-based research as Perak had tracts of forests yet to be tapped, such as the Belum Forest which was rich in flora and fauna.

"We invite local and foreign experts to undertake research and develop high quality products based on herbs and such," he said.

Dr Zambry said the products would not only make Perak a major food producer but also enable it to be a major supplier of "halal" food which had a huge international market.

Agrofest 2009, which will go on until Sunday, has 306 stalls showcasing a host of products, food and drinks.

-- BERNAMA

Pelaksanaan NCER disegera maju Hulu Perak


GERIK: Pelaksanaan pelan induk projek Koridor Ekonomi Wilayah Utara (NCER) akan disegerakan dalam usaha untuk memajukan daerah Hulu Perak.

Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, berkata langkah itu dibuat selepas pelaksanaan NCER tidak berjalan dengan lancar sejak ia ditadbir oleh kerajaan pakatan pembangkang.

Beliau berkata, pelan pelaksanaan NCER itu sepatutnya sudah diaktifkan bagi memastikan pembangunan dapat dipercepatkan.



"Kerajaan negeri akan mengaktifkan semula pelan induk pelaksanaan bagi memastikan pembangunan di kawasan terbabit," katanya pada sidang media selepas menghadiri jamuan rakyat di Kampung Plang dekat sini, kelmarin.

Terdahulu, Dr Zambry turut mempengerusikan mesyuarat Exco kerajaan negeri di Pejabat Daerah dan Tanah di sini.

Turut hadir pada jamuan rakyat itu, bekas Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali merangkap Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Pengkalan Hulu.

Dr Zambry berkata, kerajaan negeri akan melihat kekuatan dan fokus pembangunan di Hulu Perak terutama dalam kawasan pembangunan NCER.

Beliau berkata, pihaknya akan mengadakan pertemuan sekali lagi di Pengkalan Hulu bulan depan untuk menilai kemajuan yang dicapai.

Mengulas mengenai pembalakan haram di daerah itu, Dr Zambry berkata, kerajaan negeri sudah mengarahkan siasatan berhubung kegiatan itu yang dijalankan di berapa kawasan larangan termasuk kawasan tadahan air di Hulu Perak.

"Kerajaan negeri akan meneliti sama ada ia adalah benar-benar operasi haram atau kawasan berkenaan diluluskan pada era pemerintahan pakatan pembangkang," katanya.

Dr Zambry berkata, kerajaan negeri juga sudah mengarahkan pejabat daerah dan pejabat perhutanan untuk melakukan siasatan terperinci berhubung dengan operasi itu.

"Siasatan ini bagi membolehkan kerajaan menghalang kegiatan pembalakan di kawasan sensitif.

"Kita akan memantau semula dan gantikan tempat yang lain jika kelulusan telah diberikan," katanya.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, kerajaan negeri di bawah kepimpinan beliau tidak pernah meluluskan sebarang kegiatan membalak di kawasan-kawasan tadahan air berkenaan.

Three Strategies To Reduce Poverty In NCER
July 08, 2009 17:57 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, JulY 8 (Bernama) -- The government is focussing on three strategies to achieve the goals of reducing poverty and unemployment in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk S.K. Devamany.

The three strategies are enhancing human resource skills, encouraging the expansion of entrepreneurial industry and increasing the job opportunities in existing organisations.

For the first strategy, the government had allocated RM118.9 million for skills training programmes in the tourism, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

"Training in the tourism sector is for hospitality skills, food preparation, culinary skills and guiding.

"For the manufacturing sector, laid-off workers will be trained for a year and returned to industry when the economy recovers," Devamany said in answer to Senator Mohd Khalid Ahmad in the Senate here on Wednesday.

For encouraging the expansion of entrepreneurial industry, entrepreneurs would be trained in new skills and this had funding under the economic stimulus package of RM40 million.

"For example, there are entrepreneurs interested in information communication technology and they will trained in that," he said.

Single mothers are also not left out of the benefits derived from the NCER and they are helped via an active project in Kulim, Kedah, said Devamany.

"They are trained in child-care, beauty saloon operations and catering," he said.

He said the private sector, which had promoted incentive packages under the NCER, had invested RM8.3 billion and this would provide job opportunities for locals.

"This includes a tourism project by Sime Darby in Langkawi, eco-tourism by MKLand in Pulau Banding dan and large-scale corn planting in Bukit Tangga,"

-- BERNAMA

Najib: All NCER projects are on schedule
Published: 2009/07/09

ALL projects under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) are proceeding according to schedule, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the government has allocated RM750 million to the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) to the develop the area.

"Basically, they are on schedule. However, some of the projects are pilot in nature in the sense that we want to try out the project before we implement on a large scale," he told reporters after chairing the third NCIA meeting in Putrajaya.

Najib said the projects in the NCER master plan covered the major economic sectors of agriculture, manufacturing and tourism, supported by the infrastructure, education, human capital and social development sectors.

"Various projects are being implemented on a pilot basis, including the Amali Agro Entrepreneur Centre in Kampung Bukit Kura, Kedah, which is aimed at promoting agriculture on a commercial basis," he said.

The project showcases the integrated agricultural concept, with the activities ranging from planting, chicken rearing to marketing.

The government is also developing a pilot project under the SawahKU Maju programme, which involves an area of 81 hectares in Gunung Semanggol, Perak, with the aim of increasing padi production by eight to 10 tonnes per hectare.

For manufacturing, Najib said the government was implementing an excellence centre programme in the Penang Free Industrial Zone to raise the capability of engineering graduates to meet the needs of investors in the electronics industry, with the operations expected to start end of this year.

For the tourism sector, he said a master plan has been prepared to develop the Belum tropical forest in Temenggor, Perak, with priority given to conservation of the rich natural resources.

"We are also developing Taiping, Perak, as a heritage tourism town and with a special allocation for the Safari Taiping programme," he added.

Najib said the government was also developing the Edu Citi-Tel pilot project to provide integrated hostel facilities in Taiping for Standard Five and Six pupils from families in rural areas and with low income.

An infrastructure project involved upgrading 351 kilometres of roads under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority in Ampang Jajar, Kedah, at a cost of RM84 million and construction is expected to be completed in stages from May 2009 to April 2010, he said.

The government, he added, was developing Taman Teknologi Pauh in Perlis, an area of 30.3 hectares, with the aim of diversifying sources of economic growth and job opportunities. - Bernama

Enam lagi projek di Koridor Utara - PM

PUTRAJAYA 9 Julai - Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) hari ini meluluskan enam lagi projek bagi sektor pertanian, pembuatan dan pelancongan untuk dibangunkan di Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (WEKU).

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, pembangunan itu membabitkan beberapa projek perintis antaranya Pusat Latihan Amali Agro Entrepreneur di Kampung Kura, Kedah dan Projek SawahKU Maju.

"Pusat latihan itu bertujuan memperkenalkan pertanian secara komersial manakala projek SawahKu Maju adalah percubaan meratakan tanah bendang supaya boleh mencecah tahap pengeluaran lebih tinggi iaitu antara lapan hingga 10 tan sehektar.

"Setakat ini, projek tersebut berjalan mengikut jadual dan bagi projek perintis kita cuba dahulu sebelum melaksanakannya dalam skala yang lebih besar," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat ketiga NCIA di pejabatnya di sini hari ini.

Keseluruhan projek NCIA di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) bernilai RM750 juta.

Hadir sama ialah Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin dan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

Turut hadir ialah Menteri Besar Kedah, Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak; Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd. Kadir; Menteri Besar Perlis, Datuk Seri Dr. Md.Isa Sabu dan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng.

Perdana Menteri berkata, NCIA juga meluluskan projek sektor pembuatan iaitu pembinaan Pusat Kecemerlangan untuk meningkatkan kelayakan siswazah kejuruteraan bagi menampung pelabur dalam sektor elektronik di Zon Industri Bebas, Pulau Pinang.

Dalam pada itu, katanya, antara projek yang menarik dalam sektor pelancongan adalah cadangan mewujudkan perkhidmatan teksi air antara Pulau Pinang dan Seberang Perai iaitu kemungkinan dari Nibong Tebal.

"Teksi air ini menjadi kemudahan kepada mereka yang bekerja di pulau termasuk di Batu Feringgi dan Tanjung Bungah yang agak jauh dari Seberang Perai.

"Bagaimanapun, kita akan kaji dari segi bagaimana ia boleh dilaksanakan," katanya.

Selain itu, beliau menyatakan, NCIA juga bersetuju membuat kajian lebih lanjut tentang pembangunan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temengor.

Tambahnya, Taiping yang merupakan bandar warisan dan peninggalan sejarah akan dibangunkan secara strategik.

''Satu peruntukan khas telah diluluskan bagi memajukan Safari Park di Taiping," katanya.

Kata Najib, NCIA juga mengambil maklum tentang projek perintis Edu Citi-Tel yang menyediakan kemudahan asrama berintegrasi di Taiping bagi murid-murid tahun lima dan enam melibatkan anak-anak dari keluarga berpendapatan rendah.

"Projek ini agak menarik iaitu 99 orang pelajar di bawah program ini telah menunjukkan kemampuan dalam bidang pembelajaran dan kepimpinan di sekolah masing-masing," katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Najib berkata, bagi bidang infrastruktur pula, beberapa projek sedang dijalankan antaranya menaik taraf jalan ladang membabitkan kawasan Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda (MADA) sepanjang 351 kilometer dengan kos RM84 juta.

"Ia akan disiapkan secara berperingkat mulai Mei lalu sehingga April 2010.

"NCIA juga membantu membangunkan infrastruktur Taman Teknologi Pauh di Perlis seluas 30.3 hektar bagi mempelbagaikan sumber pertumbuhan ekonomi dan peluang pekerjaan di negeri itu," katanya.

Konsep pengangkutan air Pulau Pinang dilulus
Oleh Fazli Abdullah
fazliabdullah@bharian.com.my

Pembinaan 10 jeti menerusi inisiatif NCER bentuk program bersepadu

GEORGETOWN: Kerajaan Pusat meluluskan konsep Pengangkutan Air Pulau Pinang menerusi inisiatif Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) yang akan merangsang ekonomi dan peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk negeri ini.

Antara lain, konsep itu membabitkan cadangan pembinaan 10 jeti bagi menghubungkan bahagian pulau dan tanah besar seperti di Bagan Ajam, Butterworth, Pulau Aman, Teluk Bahang, Tanjung Bunga dan Batu Maung.


Naib Presiden Kanan (Bahagian Industri Pembuatan) Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA), Chris Tan, berkata RM50 juta diperuntukkan kepada pihaknya pada Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) bagi menjayakan inisiatif itu.

Antara lain, peruntukan itu akan digunakan untuk membiayai kajian kesesuaian, pembinaan prasarana dan pembelian bot.

Sehubungan itu, katanya, satu kajian kesesuaian terhadap projek berkenaan akan bermula bulan depan dan dijangka siap dalam tempoh tiga setengah bulan.

“Kami mensasarkan menjelang akhir RMK-9, sekurang-kurangnya dua atau tiga laluan bagi pengangkutan air antara pulau dan tanah besar akan beroperasi," katanya.

Beliau bercakap pada sidang media bersama Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pelabuhan Pulau Pinang (PPC), Tan Cheng Liang, bagi menjelaskan konsep Pengangkutan Air Pulau Pinang di sini, kelmarin.

Konsep Pengangkutan Air Pulau Pinang diluluskan pada mesyuarat ketiga NCIA di Putrajaya, minggu lalu, yang dipengerusikan oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Najib dilaporkan berkata, semua projek NCER yang sedang dan akan dibina, pada asasnya mengikut jadual membabitkan sektor pertanian, pembuatan dan pelancongan yang disokong bidang infrastruktur, pendidikan dan modal insan serta pembangunan sosial.

Sebanyak RM750 juta diperuntukkan kepada NCIA dalam RMK-9 bagi melaksanakan projek itu termasuk Pusat Latihan Amali Agro Entrepreneur, SawahKU Maju, Pembangunan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temenggor, Taiping Bandar Warisan dan Sistem Pengangkutan Air Pulau Pinang.

Chris berkata, perunding yang akan menjalankan kajian itu akan dilantik tidak lama lagi.

Antara lain, perunding berkenaan akan memperhalusi sistem pengangkutan air, jenis bot sesuai digunakan, tambang serta mendapatkan pandangan pengusaha pengangkutan air sedia ada.

Sementara itu, Cheng Liang berkata, konsep pengangkutan air yang akan dibangunkan bertujuan membentuk sistem pengangkutan awam bersepadu, sesuai dengan Pulau Pinang sebagai hab logistik dan pengangkutan wilayah utara.

Katanya, sistem yang akan dibangunkan itu akan membantu mengurangkan kesesakan lalu lintas, memberi keselesaan kepada orang ramai serta menjaga alam sekitar.

Enam lagi projek di Koridor Utara - PM

PUTRAJAYA 9 Julai - Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) hari ini meluluskan enam lagi projek bagi sektor pertanian, pembuatan dan pelancongan untuk dibangunkan di Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (WEKU).

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, pembangunan itu membabitkan beberapa projek perintis antaranya Pusat Latihan Amali Agro Entrepreneur di Kampung Kura, Kedah dan Projek SawahKU Maju.

"Pusat latihan itu bertujuan memperkenalkan pertanian secara komersial manakala projek SawahKu Maju adalah percubaan meratakan tanah bendang supaya boleh mencecah tahap pengeluaran lebih tinggi iaitu antara lapan hingga 10 tan sehektar.

"Setakat ini, projek tersebut berjalan mengikut jadual dan bagi projek perintis kita cuba dahulu sebelum melaksanakannya dalam skala yang lebih besar," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat ketiga NCIA di pejabatnya di sini hari ini.

Keseluruhan projek NCIA di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) bernilai RM750 juta.

Hadir sama ialah Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin dan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

Turut hadir ialah Menteri Besar Kedah, Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak; Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd. Kadir; Menteri Besar Perlis, Datuk Seri Dr. Md.Isa Sabu dan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng.

Perdana Menteri berkata, NCIA juga meluluskan projek sektor pembuatan iaitu pembinaan Pusat Kecemerlangan untuk meningkatkan kelayakan siswazah kejuruteraan bagi menampung pelabur dalam sektor elektronik di Zon Industri Bebas, Pulau Pinang.

Dalam pada itu, katanya, antara projek yang menarik dalam sektor pelancongan adalah cadangan mewujudkan perkhidmatan teksi air antara Pulau Pinang dan Seberang Perai iaitu kemungkinan dari Nibong Tebal.

"Teksi air ini menjadi kemudahan kepada mereka yang bekerja di pulau termasuk di Batu Feringgi dan Tanjung Bungah yang agak jauh dari Seberang Perai.

"Bagaimanapun, kita akan kaji dari segi bagaimana ia boleh dilaksanakan," katanya.

Selain itu, beliau menyatakan, NCIA juga bersetuju membuat kajian lebih lanjut tentang pembangunan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temengor.

Tambahnya, Taiping yang merupakan bandar warisan dan peninggalan sejarah akan dibangunkan secara strategik.

''Satu peruntukan khas telah diluluskan bagi memajukan Safari Park di Taiping," katanya.

Kata Najib, NCIA juga mengambil maklum tentang projek perintis Edu Citi-Tel yang menyediakan kemudahan asrama berintegrasi di Taiping bagi murid-murid tahun lima dan enam melibatkan anak-anak dari keluarga berpendapatan rendah.

"Projek ini agak menarik iaitu 99 orang pelajar di bawah program ini telah menunjukkan kemampuan dalam bidang pembelajaran dan kepimpinan di sekolah masing-masing," katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Najib berkata, bagi bidang infrastruktur pula, beberapa projek sedang dijalankan antaranya menaik taraf jalan ladang membabitkan kawasan Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda (MADA) sepanjang 351 kilometer dengan kos RM84 juta.

"Ia akan disiapkan secara berperingkat mulai Mei lalu sehingga April 2010.

"NCIA juga membantu membangunkan infrastruktur Taman Teknologi Pauh di Perlis seluas 30.3 hektar bagi mempelbagaikan sumber pertumbuhan ekonomi dan peluang pekerjaan di negeri itu," katanya.

Really ambitious project! :cheers:

Nafas baru Koridor Utara

Oleh ZULKIFLI JALIL
zulkifli.jalil@utusan.com.my

MISI menangani ketidakseimbangan penduduk luar bandar-bandar dan bandar-sektor industri di sebalik pembangunan koridor, diteruskan di bawah kepimpinan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Matlamatnya mahu melihat pengagihan yang adil daripada segi pendapatan, bantuan kewangan atau subsidi.

Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (WEKU) adalah antara lima koridor utama di negara ini yang digerakkan untuk mengembangkan sektor ekonomi serta mengurangkan kemiskinan termasuk menaikkan taraf industri kecil dan sederhana.

Awal bulan ini, enam lagi lagi projek bagi sektor pertanian, pembuatan dan pelancongan diluluskan oleh Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) untuk dibangunkan di WEKU.

1. Sektor Pertanian

NCIA dikemaskinikan dengan kemajuan yang telah dikaji. Beberapa projek perintis diberikan highlight untuk memperkenalkan kaedah baru. Projek-projek pertanian merangkumi program Agro Farm, memajukan sawah, ternakan, perikanan dan akuakultur.

n Pusat Latihan Amali Agro Entrepreneur

Ia akan dibangunkan di Kampung Bukit Kura, Kedah bertujuan memperkenalkan pertanian secara komersial, membangunkan sosioekonomi untuk membantu rakyat miskin dan membangunkan modal insan dalam sektor pertanian.

Ia menerapkan konsep pertanian bersepadu secara mudah merangkumi aktiviti-aktiviti tanaman jangka masa pendek secara green house dan terbuka, penternakan ayam serta pemasaran.

Pusat ini turut berperanan memberi peluang latihan keusahawanan untuk melahirkan usahawan muda dalam bidang pertanian moden.

n Projek SawahKu Maju

Projek perintis diperkenalkan meletakkan sasaran meningkatkan produktiviti pengeluaran padi dengan dua pendekatan:

i) Memperkenalkan pengeluaran padi secara komersial. Fasa percubaan melibatkan kawasan 81 hektar telah dilaksanakan pada Mac/April 2009 dan Fasa 2 melibatkan kawasan seluas 206 hektar akan dilaksanakan pada Ogos 2009.

Projek ini memperkenalkan kaedah teknologi pertanian baru dalam usaha mewujudkan petani moden. Prasarana sedia ada akan ditambah baik untuk penghasilan produk pertanian yang optimum. Pendekatan ini akan dikembangkan di wilayah IV MADA (Lembaga Pembangunan Pertanian Muda) melibatkan 15,000 hektar tanah sawah yang telah dikenal pasti melibatkan 15,500 petani untuk pelaksanaan projek yang sama dalam Rancangan Malaysia Kesepuluh (RMK-10).

ii) Memperbaiki prasarana untuk meningkatkan hasil padi di kawasan-kawasan produktiviti rendah.

Projek perintis sedang dilaksanakan di Gunung Semanggol melibatkan kawasan seluas 81 hektar. Seluas 520 hektar lagi telah dikenal pasti untuk diusahakan selanjutnya.

2. Sektor Pembuatan

Projek Pusat Kecemerlangan (Centre of Excellence - COE)

Pusat-pusat kecemerlangan dibangunkan untuk dua tujuan utama:

i. Untuk meningkatkan tahap kelayakan siswazah-siswazah kejuruteraan bagi menampung keperluan pelabur dalam sektor elektronik di WEKU.

ii) Untuk menyediakan kemudahan-kemudahan penyelidikan bagi memberi peluang kepada pengusaha-pengusaha tempatan khasnya syarikat-syarikat kecil dan sederhana menceburi kegiatan-kegiatan yang bernilai tambah tinggi.

Pusat pertama dalam rangkaian yang dibangunkan di Zon Industri Bebas di Pulau Pinang dijangka mula beroperasi pada penghujung 2009.

Salah satu fokus utama projek ini ialah COE Bioteknologi bertumpu pada bidang peralatan dan teknologi pertanian yang berobjektifkan perkongsian kemudahan untuk memaksimumkan tahap kejayaan syarikat bioteknologi tempatan.

3) Sektor Pelancongan

n Pembangunan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temengor

Pihak berkuasa memperakukan pentingnya Pelan Induk Pembangunan dan Pelan Induk Pengurusan Bersepadu disediakan untuk memelihara khazanah negara dalam usaha membangun dan memasarkannya sebagai produk pelancongan yang unggul dan unik. Pelan Induk Pembangunan ialah untuk dijadikan rujukan oleh pelbagai agensi kerajaan dan swasta bagi membangunkan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temengor secara lestari demi memastikan kepentingan komersial tidak akan memusnahkan khazanah bernilai negara.

Pelan Induk Pengurusan adalah untuk menyarankan kewujudan mekanisme pengurusan mantap, menyelaras, meneliti, melulus, mengurus dan memasarkan produk pelancongan Hutan Tropika Belum-Temengor.

n Taiping Bandar Warisan

Taiping kaya dengan pelbagai tinggalan sejarah yang boleh dibangunkan secara strategik untuk menjadikannya sebagai bandar pelancongan warisan. Rancangan Khas Kerajaan Persekutuan melalui Jabatan Perancang Bandar dan Desa telah bekerjasama untuk menyiapkan:

i) Rancangan Kawasan Khas Warisan Bandar Taiping

ii) Rancangan Kawasan Khas Matang, Kuala Sepetang.

NCIA akan meneliti perkara-perkara yang dapat dibangunkan secara strategik dan tersusun serta berusaha menarik minat penglibatan swasta.

n Produk Pelancongan Baru melalui sistem Pengangkutan Air di Pulau Pinang.

Pihak berkuasa diberikan taklimat rancangan memperkenalkan produk pelancongan baru dalam bentuk water taxi dan perkhidmatan water shuttle yang sekali gus dapat membantu menyediakan sistem pengangkutan awam alternatif serta dapat pula menyediakan tapak-tapak perniagaan baru. Kajian lanjut dari aspek keperluan infrastruktur, kemampuan perniagaan dan penglibatan swasta akan dilakukan.

4) Sektor Pendidikan dan Modal Insan

n Edu Citi-Tel

Projek perintis Edu Citi-Tel menyediakan kemudahan asrama berintegrasi di Taiping untuk pelajar-pelajar tahun 5 dan tahun 6 untuk anak-anak dari kalangan keluarga luar bandar berpendapatan rendah. ECT pertama di Taiping mula beroperasi sejak Disember 2008 menempatkan 59 pelajar Tahun 5. Pihak berkuasa dimaklumkan bahwa NCIA menerima banyak permintaan untuk memperbanyakkan program ini.

n cITaKU Labs:

cITaKU Labs diperkenalkan untuk menggilap kemahiran dalam bidang teknologi maklumat dengan menyediakan persekitaran inkubasi terkawal di samping meningkatkan kemahiran penggunaan peralatan dan kaedah digital di kalangan usahawan muda. Tujuh lokasi mula beroperasi pada April 2009. Sebanyak 23 lokasi lagi dijangka beroperasi pada September 2009. Sejumlah 30 lokasi lagi dijadual beroperasi pada awal 2010.

n NCITES (Northen Corridor Industrial Technical Enhancement Scheme):

NCITES menyediakan peluang peningkatan kemahiran dan pekerjaan kepada graduan-graduan diploma dan ijazah melalui internship selama setahun di syarikat-syarikat berteknologi tinggi di WEKU. Peserta-peserta berpeluang diserap oleh syarikat terlibat sebagai pekerja tetap sekiranya pencapaian memuaskan. Sebanyak 230 graduan dan 14 syarikat dalam program perintis.

n NCOUP (Northen Corridor Operators Upskilling Programme)

NCOUP bertujuan meningkatkan kemahiran sedia ada pekerja-pekerja di peringkat operator. Melalui kerjasama dengan Kementerian Sumber Manusia, peserta-peserta berpeluang meningkatkan kemahiran sambil bekerja dan memperolehi pensijilan Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia mengikut kemahiran yang dicapai. NCOUP telah bermula pada Jun 2009 dan sehingga kini melibatkan 102 orang peserta.

5) Infrastruktur

n Menaik taraf Jalan Ladang dalam Wilayah MADA

Program menaik taraf jalan MADA melibatkan 351 kilometer dengan kos RM84 juta sedang dalam pembinaan dan dijadualkan siap secara berperingkat antara Mei 2009 hingga April 2010. Sepanjang 174 kilometer dalam Fasa 4 dengan kos RM60 juta akan mula dibina pada Ogos 2009.

n Depot Pelepasan Dalaman di Perlis

Depot ini akan dibangunkan di Padang Besar, Perlis sebagai pelengkap kepada infrastruktur landasan keretapi berkembar. Depot ini dirancang untuk menjadi penggerak kepada aktiviti-aktiviti ekonomi dan perniagaan di Padang Besar.

n Taman Teknologi Pauh, Perlis

NCIA juga membantu membangunkan infrastruktur Taman Teknologi Pauh seluas 30.3 hektar. Taman Teknologi Pauh dirancang untuk mempelbagaikan sumber pertumbuhan ekonomi dan peluang pekerjaan di Perlis.

Enam projek NCER sedang dilaksana di Perlis


KANGAR: Enam projek menerusi Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) sedang dibangunkan di Perlis bagi tempoh Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9, kata Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu.

Katanya, Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) memperuntukkan sebanyak RM291.54 bagi melaksanakan projek dalam sektor berpotensi termasuk pertanian, pelancongan, infrastuktur, pembangunan sosial, pembuatan dan prkhidmatan korporat.

"Sehingga 30 November lalu, enam projek bernilai RM113.4 juta sedang dalam pelaksanaan iaitu depot pelepasan darat di Padang Besar bernilai RM28 juta, projek menaik taraf jeti feri Kuala Perlis (RM15 juta) dan projek Taman Teknologi Tinggi Pauh (RM50 juta).

"Turut disenaraikan sebagai projek dalam pelaksanaan ialah projek Edu Citi-Tel di Arau (RM4 juta), projek infrastruktur kawasan Lembaga Kemajuan Pertanian Muda (MADA) sebanyak RM13.9 juta dan program peningkatan hasil padi kawasan MADA (RM2.5 juta)," katanya semasa menjawab soalan Hashim Jasin (Pas-Sanglang) pada persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perlis hari ini.

Mengenai status Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim sebagai Penasihat Khas kepada Perdana Menteri mengenai NCER, beliau berkata, bekas Menteri Besar Perlis itu masih lagi berkhidmat dengan tugas itu.

has the water taxi project started

Northern corridor to buzz with new activities
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2010/03/01

THE relative silence and seemingly slow progress of activities in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) are about to change soon, with more visibility and activities generating from the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) office in Penang.

From today, all its employees from chief executive officer Datuk Redza Rafiq to most of his senior and support staff operating from the authority's satellite office in Kuala Lumpur will call Penang home.

Prior to this, only about 20 NCIA employees were based in Penang, while the rest operated from the Kuala Lumpur office.

The beautifully restored heritage premises along Jalan Residensi housing the NCIA headquarters will be bustling with some 80 employees as of today.

The move was overdue and a welcome one, not only to Penang but also Kedah, Perlis and Perak which make up the NCER.

The NCIA has a small office in Kedah, while a satellite office for its manufacturing division is expected to open soon at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in Penang.

Apart from making economic sense to house all staff and bulk operations under one roof, the move is also logical as it will be more efficient to oversee projects for the northern states from closer proximity.

From a political standpoint, the federal government's commitment to continue pumping resources into Opposition-led states like Penang and Kedah to boost the NCER must be acknowleged.

The NCIA was set up under the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Act 2008 (Act 687) as the authority responsible for providing direction and devising policies and strategies for socio-economic development in the NCER, which encompasses 21 districts in Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Penang.

Although there was great fanfare when the NCER was launched in 2008 with an ambitious blueprint, tangible signs of activities have been minimal and little impact seen on the population in the four states.

The manufacturig division of the NCIA has launched a Northern Corridor Industrial Technical Skills Enhancement Scheme in Kedah.

In Penang, it has teamed up with Universiti Sains Malaysia's commercial arm, Usains Holding Sdn Bhd, to set up a Centre of Excellence in the electrical and electronics field.

Tourism development activities have begun to take shape with the development of an integrated master plan for the Belum Temenggor tropical rainforest in Perak.

Efforts are in place to give Penang medical tourism players a boost soon and this move is expected to see economic spin-offs for the state and local businesses.

In keeping detractors at bay, regular media exposure of the many activities carried out by the NCIA should be a priority for Redza and his team from now.

The public should be made aware that the NCER is not only about activities which benefit some multinational corporations or limited to the setting up of luxury resorts in the economic corridor.

There should be better dissemination of information about the concrete efforts being made by the NCIA, for instance, its 'Edu-Citi-Tel' programme to nurture high-potential students from poor families to excel.

A mechanism to obtain public and industry feedback on the NCER's progress via the activities being carried out by the NCIA should also be considered.

Above all else, the move by Redza and his team to Penang should be seen to impart the message that the NCER is alive and kicking, and not an imagined blueprint which has yielded little or no output.

Northern corridor to buzz with new activities
By Marina Emmanuel Published: 2010/03/01

THE relative silence and seemingly slow progress of activities in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) are about to change soon, with more visibility and activities generating from the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) office in Penang.

From today, all its employees from chief executive officer Datuk Redza Rafiq to most of his senior and support staff operating from the authority's satellite office in Kuala Lumpur will call Penang home.

Prior to this, only about 20 NCIA employees were based in Penang, while the rest operated from the Kuala Lumpur office.

The beautifully restored heritage premises along Jalan Residensi housing the NCIA headquarters will be bustling with some 80 employees as of today.

The move was overdue and a welcome one, not only to Penang but also Kedah, Perlis and Perak which make up the NCER.

The NCIA has a small office in Kedah, while a satellite office for its manufacturing division is expected to open soon at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in Penang.

Apart from making economic sense to house all staff and bulk operations under one roof, the move is also logical as it will be more efficient to oversee projects for the northern states from closer proximity.

From a political standpoint, the federal government's commitment to continue pumping resources into Opposition-led states like Penang and Kedah to boost the NCER must be acknowleged.

The NCIA was set up under the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Act 2008 (Act 687) as the authority responsible for providing direction and devising policies and strategies for socio-economic development in the NCER, which encompasses 21 districts in Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Penang.

Although there was great fanfare when the NCER was launched in 2008 with an ambitious blueprint, tangible signs of activities have been minimal and little impact seen on the population in the four states.

The manufacturig division of the NCIA has launched a Northern Corridor Industrial Technical Skills Enhancement Scheme in Kedah.

In Penang, it has teamed up with Universiti Sains Malaysia's commercial arm, Usains Holding Sdn Bhd, to set up a Centre of Excellence in the electrical and electronics field.

Tourism development activities have begun to take shape with the development of an integrated master plan for the Belum Temenggor tropical rainforest in Perak.

Efforts are in place to give Penang medical tourism players a boost soon and this move is expected to see economic spin-offs for the state and local businesses.

In keeping detractors at bay, regular media exposure of the many activities carried out by the NCIA should be a priority for Redza and his team from now.

The public should be made aware that the NCER is not only about activities which benefit some multinational corporations or limited to the setting up of luxury resorts in the economic corridor.

There should be better dissemination of information about the concrete efforts being made by the NCIA, for instance, its 'Edu-Citi-Tel' programme to nurture high-potential students from poor families to excel.

A mechanism to obtain public and industry feedback on the NCER's progress via the activities being carried out by the NCIA should also be considered.

Above all else, the move by Redza and his team to Penang should be seen to impart the message that the NCER is alive and kicking, and not an imagined blueprint which has yielded little or no output.

Yeah right, alive and kicking...Next year they move back to KL...:lol::lol::lol:

PERLIS WILL GET AN AIRPORT ???

Padang Besar Bakal Jadi Pusat Perdagangan Bertaraf Antarabangsa?

KANGAR, 8 Dis (Bernama) -- Padang Besar bakal menjadi sebuah pusat perdagangan bertaraf antarabangsa jika hasrat sebuah syarikat pelaburan dari China yang menunjukkan minat untuk membangunkan kawasan pinggir sempadan antarabangsa Malaysia-Thailand itu direalisasikan untuk menjadi "Pusat Perdagangan Antarabangsa Padang Besar (PPAB).

Pengerusi Kelab Usahawan Koridor Utara Dr Ammar Hassan berkata China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CMC) yang meninjau lokasi itu hari ini yakin kawasan itu berpotensi dibangunkan.

Katanya CMC akan bekerjasama dengan kelab usahawan itu untuk membangunkan projek PPAB yang dianggarkan bernilai RM1 bilion itu dalam tempoh terdekat.

"Jika kerajaan bersetuju, kami akan mulakan projek ini selewat-lewatnya pertengahan tahun depan," kata Ammar kepada pemberita ketika ditemui di sini pada Selasa.

Beliau berkata, jika projek PPAB itu direalisasikan kelak, ia akan mengandungi beberapa kemudahan termasuk pusat konvensyen antarabangsa dan taman tema di kawasan seluas kira-kira 30 hektar.

"Untuk projek jangka panjang, sebuah lapangan terbang juga dicadangkan diwujudkan di Padang Besar," katanya.

Ammar berkata, Padang Besar juga bakal muncul menjadi pemangkin pertumbuhan ekonomi rantau ini ekoran kedudukannya di tengah-tengah rantau pertumbuhan segi tiga Indonesia,Malaysia dan Thailand (IMT-GT).

Beliau berkata, projek landasan kereta api berkembar juga akan membantu pembangunan Padang Besar kerana ia dapat menjimatkan masa perjalanan pengangkutan barangan.

Pada masa ini, Padang Besar yang pernah dianggap sebagai "Pekan Koboi" kini berkembang sebagai pusat perniagaan dan pelancongan yang menjadi tumpuan para pelancong untuk membeli belah.

-- BERNAMA
__________________
World for Peace~~

NCIA Creates 6,832 Jobs In Northern Corridor Economic Region
March 27, 2010 19:02 PM

KULIM, March 27 -- The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) has created about 6,823 jobs and organised courses in agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) from March 2009 to January 2010.

Its chief executive, Datuk Redza Rafiq, said the authority managed to create 903 jobs in the agriculture sector, tourism (2,520), manufacturing (1,365), entrepreneurship (935) and other services (1,013).

He said the NCIA has spent RM46.2 million to undertake the programmes in cooperation with voluntary bodies like Persatuan Wanita Bumiputera di dalam Perniagaan dan Profesyen and the private sector.

"The programmes aim to develop human capital to meet the demand for skilled labour in high-technology industries, especially in NCER," he told reporters after officiating at the opening of 'My World Carnival' here on Saturday.

He said the carnival was one of its activities to help meet its objectives.

"NCIA will encourage the youths, unemployed, single parents and the disabled to participate in its programmes to increase their standard of living," he said.

-- BERNAMA

NCER Receives RM1.4 Billion Investments
May 21, 2010 21:48 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- The Northern Corridor Economic Region, which encompasses Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Pulau Pinang, has received investments to the tune of RM1.4 billion between June 2008 and April this year.

The chief executive of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), Datuk Redza Rafiq said that currently, 28 various programmes were being implemented within the four states in NCER by NCIA.

The NCIA is the lead agency to implement projects for the socio-economic development in the NCER.

Redza, who took office in January this year, said that new initiatives were being put in place including a collaboration with a multinational corporation in Penang, a high tech initiative in Perlis, Satellite Farming Agropreneur initiative and Downstream Food Processing initiative in Kedah.

The investments were expected to escalate further once these and several other projects take off later this year, he said when announcing the three-month Report Card and new directions set for the NCIA in moving forward with the implementation plans in accelerating growth and socio-economic developments for the NCER.

He said the Aquaculture Development Programmes in Perak, of which one will be a joint venture with a Japan-based company; and Satellite Contract Farming in Penang involving Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA) and Malaysian Agrifood Corporation (MAFC) would officially commence in third quarter this year, subsequent to the signing of memorandum of understanding with NCIA earlier in April.

Redza also announced that NCIA's focused approach will be based on a new delivery structure, increased engagement with the various stakeholders; and to support the industry eco-system by leveraging on the capacity building initiatives and collaborating with the institutions of higher learning via various programmes such as the NCER's Centres of Excellence (COEs), etc.

He said new directions of the NCIA was to increase value-add from existing industries, drive regional development strategy in the context of the national development, optimise and synergise major infrastructure development in the NCER and catalyse sustainable economic activities.

"Despite the progress made, the challenge faced by us now is to tackle the misconception of NCIA's roles and responsibilities by some of the stakeholders as it is being equated to a Government Ministry, Public Works Department, Irrigation and Drainage Department, State Development Office, an engineering company etc," he said.

He explained that "NCIA is an enabler and facilitator in driving private sector participation in the economic development of the NCER, while ensuring that positive socio-economic outcomes will be created as a result of the said participation."

He also said that the delegates of the Asia Pacific Cities Summit 2009 agreed that economic growth for the 21st century is driven by cities and by regions.

So in moving forward, NCIA sees great opportunities in carrying out regional approaches to deliver economic growth via enabling private sector participation by working with relevant parties and cutting across different functions in delivering end results, he said.

"We also recognise that the investors have requirements which are unique to their own scope of operations; and we will do our best to address their needs on a case to case basis."

"The NCIA will also collaborate with other relevant government agencies to help enable private sector participation within NCER.

"The private sector can think of the NCIA as its facilitator and friend in the northern region," said Redza.

The vision for Agriculture sector is for the NCER to become a modern food zone for Malaysia and to help the county to increase its efficiency in food production.

The Manufacturing sector within NCER is envisioned to become the high-tech electronics hub for the region, expanding from the currently predominant assembly and test activities to higher value-add activities including wafer fabrication, chip and automation designs, and materials or packaging R&D.

The strategy for Services sector is two-pronged.

Firstly, the NCER will be positioned as a premier destination for tourists seeking world-class hospitality services and niche tourism destinations by leveraging on the Region's strengths such as Langkawi, Pulau Pinang and Belum-Temengor Tropical Rainforest.

Secondly, on the Logistics services, it will leverage on the strategic location of the NCER with respect to the regional and national connectivity and also vis-a-vis the IMT-GT.

-- BERNAMA

NCER plans begin to take shape
By Marina EmmanuelPublished: 2010/06/28
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ncia01/Article/#ixzz0s7T8xmSb

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ncia01/Article/Current_News/BTIMES/Images/btgraph10/Utara.jpg

TWO years after it got off the ground as a blueprint which was meant to change the fortunes of the northern states of Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis, the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) now has something to show.

With projects in the manufacturing, tourism and agriculture sectors, the blueprint can now be viewed as an economic driver which is beginning to reveal some tangible output.

From its commencement in June 2008 till April this year, NCER has attracted RM1.4 billion in investments.

Things continue to look up for Northern Corridor Implementation Authority's (NCIA) chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq Abdul Razak and his team in the face of news that the economic corridor is set to receive investments surpassing last year's RM800 million mark.

Without divulging specifics of the new investments which are going to be facilitated by the NCIA into the region, Redza was reported as saying that among the new ventures were a tie-up with a multinational company to invest in the manufacturing sector in Penang and SynGas' green technology for a diesel-producing facility in Perlis.

The enthusiasm and passion that Redza has for the projects in the northern region is infectious and reflected in the manner both he and his top officers are going to the ground and engaging with the stakeholders of the many projects dotting the length and breath of the NCER.

Each of the four states - regardless of whether they are administered by the Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat - are set to benefit from the initiatives of the NCIA.

What promises to emerge as the "Jewel in the Crown" for NCIA and the northern region is an eco-tourism project which is aimed at in a sustainable management of the Belum-Temengor Tropical Rainforest in Perak.

Another ambitious tourism project is the creation of "Malaysia's Straits Riviera", which is meant to put Malaysia on the international maritime map and spin off numerous economies in the four states.

The technology-savvy Redza is also excited about a pilot project which will leverage on radio frequency identification tags to transport commodities from Southern Thailand to Penang Port.

Redza is no stranger to technology, nor the workings of some of the world's top information and communications technology firm, which have been based in Penang for close to four decades.

As the former managing director of Cyberview Sdn Bhd, the land owner and master developer of Cyberjaya, Redza was instrumental in turning the development of the smart city around.

During a recent interview with Business Times at the iconic heritage home along Jalan Residensi in Penang where NCIA is housed, Redza shared some of the inroads made by NCIA and what lies ahead.

"We have been making our rounds and engaging with members of the Free Industrial Zone, Penang, Companies Association and also the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers ... helping facilitate solutions to any problems they have been encountering, ranging from logistics, traffic dispersal to security in their operations," he said.

Mindful that the manufacturing firms, especially those from the electrical and electronics sectors are the heartbeat of Penang's economy, Redza pointed out that NCIA is only intent on ensuring that these investors are accorded with an ease of doing business.

And this has included getting Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to have dialogues with exporters, freight forwarders and other logistics players to better understand and address the needs of those concerned.

"We have already had three rounds of talks between MAHB and industry players, since not many people are aware that the cargo value out of Penang International Airport is double the amount transported out of the KL International Airport," Redza said.

In the same vein, the needs of investors in neighbouring Kedah, where Malaysia's first science park - Kulim Hi-Tech Park - is located, have also not been ignored.

After engaging with members of the Kulim Industrial Association, which are made up of some of Malaysia's top American, European and Japanese investors, NCIA was given a "wish list".

"We mooted the idea of establishing a permanent and dedicated police presence in the park to the Home Ministry, and a RM50 million police station is now being built," Redza said.

On the socio-economic front, the NCIA has and is carrying out studies to alleviate poverty levels in the northern region.

Among others, it is looking at the impact of floods in Kedah, especially on the yield tonnage of padi.

On the drawing board are also plans to facilitate the cultivation of aquaculture products, the creation of a modern food zone and the promotion of engineering-driven farming.

In dispelling the notion that the NCIA is a "Santa Claus" who is there to distribute goodies to the northern region states, Redza summed up by saying: "Our role is one of an enabler and facilitator to drive private sector participation, while ensuring positive socio-economic outcomes."

NCER plans begin to take shape
By Marina EmmanuelPublished: 2010/06/28
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ncia01/Article/#ixzz0s7T8xmSb

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ncia01/Article/Current_News/BTIMES/Images/btgraph10/Utara.jpg

TWO years after it got off the ground as a blueprint which was meant to change the fortunes of the northern states of Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis, the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) now has something to show.

With projects in the manufacturing, tourism and agriculture sectors, the blueprint can now be viewed as an economic driver which is beginning to reveal some tangible output.

From its commencement in June 2008 till April this year, NCER has attracted RM1.4 billion in investments.

Things continue to look up for Northern Corridor Implementation Authority's (NCIA) chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq Abdul Razak and his team in the face of news that the economic corridor is set to receive investments surpassing last year's RM800 million mark.

Without divulging specifics of the new investments which are going to be facilitated by the NCIA into the region, Redza was reported as saying that among the new ventures were a tie-up with a multinational company to invest in the manufacturing sector in Penang and SynGas' green technology for a diesel-producing facility in Perlis.

The enthusiasm and passion that Redza has for the projects in the northern region is infectious and reflected in the manner both he and his top officers are going to the ground and engaging with the stakeholders of the many projects dotting the length and breath of the NCER.

Each of the four states - regardless of whether they are administered by the Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat - are set to benefit from the initiatives of the NCIA.

What promises to emerge as the "Jewel in the Crown" for NCIA and the northern region is an eco-tourism project which is aimed at in a sustainable management of the Belum-Temengor Tropical Rainforest in Perak.

Another ambitious tourism project is the creation of "Malaysia's Straits Riviera", which is meant to put Malaysia on the international maritime map and spin off numerous economies in the four states.

The technology-savvy Redza is also excited about a pilot project which will leverage on radio frequency identification tags to transport commodities from Southern Thailand to Penang Port.

Redza is no stranger to technology, nor the workings of some of the world's top information and communications technology firm, which have been based in Penang for close to four decades.

As the former managing director of Cyberview Sdn Bhd, the land owner and master developer of Cyberjaya, Redza was instrumental in turning the development of the smart city around.

During a recent interview with Business Times at the iconic heritage home along Jalan Residensi in Penang where NCIA is housed, Redza shared some of the inroads made by NCIA and what lies ahead.

"We have been making our rounds and engaging with members of the Free Industrial Zone, Penang, Companies Association and also the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers ... helping facilitate solutions to any problems they have been encountering, ranging from logistics, traffic dispersal to security in their operations," he said.

Mindful that the manufacturing firms, especially those from the electrical and electronics sectors are the heartbeat of Penang's economy, Redza pointed out that NCIA is only intent on ensuring that these investors are accorded with an ease of doing business.

And this has included getting Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to have dialogues with exporters, freight forwarders and other logistics players to better understand and address the needs of those concerned.

"We have already had three rounds of talks between MAHB and industry players, since not many people are aware that the cargo value out of Penang International Airport is double the amount transported out of the KL International Airport," Redza said.
In the same vein, the needs of investors in neighbouring Kedah, where Malaysia's first science park - Kulim Hi-Tech Park - is located, have also not been ignored.

After engaging with members of the Kulim Industrial Association, which are made up of some of Malaysia's top American, European and Japanese investors, NCIA was given a "wish list".

"We mooted the idea of establishing a permanent and dedicated police presence in the park to the Home Ministry, and a RM50 million police station is now being built," Redza said.

On the socio-economic front, the NCIA has and is carrying out studies to alleviate poverty levels in the northern region.

Among others, it is looking at the impact of floods in Kedah, especially on the yield tonnage of padi.

On the drawing board are also plans to facilitate the cultivation of aquaculture products, the creation of a modern food zone and the promotion of engineering-driven farming.

In dispelling the notion that the NCIA is a "Santa Claus" who is there to distribute goodies to the northern region states, Redza summed up by saying: "Our role is one of an enabler and facilitator to drive private sector participation, while ensuring positive socio-economic outcomes."



WOWWWWW......:eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2:

I'm planning to breed snails in NCER...

I think NCER is as important as Iskandar or even much more important. Why? Because it was planned to become the nation modern food zone to supply adequate food throughout the country. But, most of us are so obsess with beautiful buildings, majestic offices and foreigners. As a result, many sees NCER as a small scale economic corridor where as, it can become a buffer zone for the nation if the global food crisis were to happen let say next year or so...

yeap, so true...

RM835 mln investment agreements signed for NCER devt
July 27, 2010, Tuesday
http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=52766

PUTRAJAYA: Four agreements involving RM835 million investment for development programmes in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) were signed yesterday.The agreements between government agencies and private companies are for the development of sustainable socio-economic programmes and to improve economic network by setting up contract estates, creating job opportunities and economic spin-offs.

This is in line with the role by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) to stimulate economic growth at NCER and to move the network chain to narrow the socio-economic gap among the corridor regions, said NCIA in a statement.

The exchange of investment documents was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at his office.

Earlier, Najib chaired the Fifth NCIA meeting at his office.

Present were Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The NCER encompasses Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

Also present were Chief Secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, Rural and regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq.

The projects to be implemented are cage-fish rearing in Kedah, a three-party joint initiative between NCIA, State Fisheries Department and Progressive Ocean Sdn Bhd, to breed fish in 800 cages.

Another aquaculture project between NCIA and Ace Front Industries Sdn Bhd is to develop satellite ponds to breed white prawns in Sungai Kerang.

The project is expected to produce 432 metric tonnes of white prawns a year, with a market value of RM4.4 million, said NCIA.

One agreement provide for the creation of the Pauh Industrial Zone in Perlis, a joint-venture project between NCIA and Perlis State Economic Development Corporation.

Pens Holdings Sdn Bhd has been appointed the contractor to develop the industrial zone in a move to provide and complete the latest infrastructures to woo investments and to expand manufacturing industry activities.

Manufacturing has been identified to have big potential in Perlis and in NCER as a whole, said NCIA.

A project to conduct micro-processor tests in Penang, a joint venture between NCIA and a multinational company, Advanced Micro Devices Export Sdn Bhd, will be developed to woo foreign investment and to upgrade the semiconductor industry at NCER, it added. — Bernama

Penang eyeing major role in NCER, says Guan Eng
Thursday July 29, 2010
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/29/nation/6756993&sec=nation

GEORGE TOWN: Penang is willing to play a bigger role in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) as the state has the logistics and communication capacities to help neighbouring states prosper.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Penang had an established international brand in the Free Trade Zone so it was only logical that the state took the lead in helping others in the NCER context.

NCER groups together Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak in an economic package, designed to bring a greater development pace in rural localities of the member states.

He said Penang was also pulling in higher private investments such as the decision by Advanced Micro Devices Sdn Bhd to set up a facility for micro-processing tests under the NCER zone here.

“Penang has regained its investment niches due to five new aspects comprising strong human resources content, an easy supply chain for manufacturers, strong protection of intellectual properties, its status as one of the top livable cities in Asia and good governance.

“These five aspects are driving the state’s focus to pull in more private investments,” he told a press conference yesterday.

He said the state could work effectively with NCER chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq who is more forthcoming and approachable.

He said: “We can work with the majority of the civil service.

“The only ones we cannot work with are the Little Napoleons.”

On another matter, Lim said since the start of the year, 70% and 82% of traders and hawkers whose stalls were either demolished or served with compounds, were non-Malays on the island and mainland respectively.

He said this showed that there was no race factor involved when the respective local authorities conduct their operations.

Program NCIA di Kedah dijangka hasilkan 640 metrik tan ikan dalam sangkar

AMELIA HASHIM

Putrajaya - Sebanyak lima perjanjian dimeterai oleh Pihak Berkuasa Pelaksanaan Koridor Utara (NCIA) membabitkan pelaburan bernilai RM835 juta daripada kerajaan dan swasta sekali gus merancakkan pembangunan pembangunan Wilayah Ekonomi Koridor Utara (NCER) termasuk mewujudkan peluang pekerjaan baru.

Antara projek yang terlibat ialah program akuakultur Sungai Menghulu di Kedah membabitkan pembangunan menternak ikan dalam 800 sangkar melibatkan kira-kira 32 usahawan akukultur.

Di bawah program ini NCIA akan menyalurkan peruntukan fasilitas serta pembelian peralatan pembangunan program sebanyak RM10 juta manakala POSB memperuntukan RM5 juta untuk kos operasi permulaan.

Program itu dijangka menghasilkan pengeluaran ikan dalam sangkar sebanyak 640 metrik tan setahun dengan hasil jualan bernilai RM19 juta.

Secara keseluruhan program NCIA, ia menyumbang pelaburan berjumlah RM64 juta kepada projek-projek di Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis dan Perak selain menarik kemasukan pelaburan terus asing (FDI) sebanyak RM768.6 juta.

Perdana Menteri YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yang mempengerusikan mesyuarat kelima NCIA menyaksikan majlis pertukaran dokumen perjanjian untuk program-program pembangunan.

Hadir sama menyaksikan perjanjian itu Menteri Besar Kedah YAB Dato’ Seri Ustaz Azizan Abdul Razak, Menteri Besar Perlis YAB Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Isa Sabu, Menteri Besar Perak YAB Datuk Seri Dr. Zambri Abd Kadir, Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang YAB Lim Guang Eng serta Ketua Eksekutif NCIA Datuk Redza Rafiq.

NCIA dalam kenyataannya memberitahu pejanjian tersebut menyaksikan persetujuan semua pihak telibat untuk membangunkan program sosioekonomi yang mapan dan mempertingkat rangkaian ekonomi secara menyeluruh dengan mengwujudkan program kontrak ladang, peluang pekerjaan serta limpahan ekonomi.

Ini selaras dengan peranan NCIA untuk menjana pertumbuhan ekonomi NCER dan menggerakkan rangkaian nilai bagi merapatkan jurang sosioekonomi di antara wilayah empat negeri di Utara.

Pembangunan menyeluruh NCER disasarkan siap menjelang 2025 dengan memfokuskan kepada penjanaan pelaburan dan pelaksanaan program pembangunan yang akan membawa nilai tambah menerusi sector teras ekonomi.

NCER projects to bear fruit by 2012
Published: 2010/08/20
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20100820123449/Article/index_html

Four states in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) are expected to start enjoying the results of projects implemented by 2012, and at the same time shape the people''s economy toward high income.

Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) Chief Executive Datuk Redza Rafiq said five agreements which involved investments worth RM835 million, signed on July 26, would begin in October.

This figure did not include preliminary investment, particularly the provision of infrastructure by the government totalling RM1.4 billion in Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak over the last four years, he said.

"The latest investment involving a foreign direct investment of almost RM770 million reflects the confidence of foreign investors in the New Economic Model and 10th Malaysia Plan as well the private sector's in the economy.


"The people should grab this opportunity to achieve the high income goal," he said during the breaking of fast with journalists and 68 poor and orphaned students from Rumah Yakin Al-Wadi in Baling at Telekom Tower Restaurant here last night.

Redza said he was proud with commitment and support given by the four state governments to NCIA in carrying out NCER projects.
In terms of numbers, agriculture had the most projects but manufacturing involved the biggest costs, he said.

What's more important, he said, the investors would use more local content in their products and this would give better income for the country and the people.

He said NCIA's effort to get investors involved in new technologies to come to NCER was positive and this would become a reality soon.

"This second round challenges our ability to expand the chain in services, supply, logistics and spur the gateways in Padang Besar, Bukit Kayu Hitam, Durian Burong and Pengkalan Hulu.

"This is important because the platform planned through various sustainable socio-economic programmes until 2025 to enhance the economic chain comprehensively can create thousands of jobs and economic spillovers," he said.

Redza said NCIA was trying hard to develop the Malaysia-Thailand crossing points as it would boost bilateral trade and support the double-tracking rail project from Padang Besar to Johor Baharu. - Bernama

20,000 jobs to be created in next 10 years in NCER
Published: Friday October 8, 2010 MYT 7:28:00 PM
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/8/nation/20101008193659&sec=nation

GEORGE TOWN: More than 20,000 jobs and 232 business opportunities in various sectors are expected to be created in the next 10 years under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) programme.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk SK Devamany said the government had made the forecast based on the inflow of new investments, government support and the Economic Transformation Programme to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.

"Each sector has a different approach. In the manufacturing sector, for instance, Advanced Micro Devices Export Sdn Bhd (AMD) which collaborates with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) will develop a microprocessor testing facility in Penang and this will attract more foreign investments here.

"At the same time, AMD will further develop the semi-conductor industry and provide about 500 jobs in the technical and engineering fields," he told reporters after a working visit to AMD in Bayan Lepas, near here, Friday.

Also present were NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq, Public-Private Sector Cooperation Unit (Ukas) deputy director-general Ahmad Husni Hussain and AMD vice-president and managing director Datuk Dr Mohd Sofi Osman.

Among the new investments in the NCER are in aquaculture projects in Langkawi, the aquaculture product processing factory in Sungai Kerang, Perak and Pauh industrial zone development programme in Perlis.

"For the aquaculture programmes, we will move away from traditional methods to one that uses technology, making the operations easier and faster, besides using less manpower, hence reducing costs," said Devamany.

"For tourism, we will introduce new products such as sports tourism in Langkawi and Penang, while for health tourism, we will be making some improvisations," he added. - Bernama