by Kevin Tan
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KUALA LUMPUR: The Eastern Corridor Economic Region (ECER), which is scheduled to be launched late next month, is projected to rake in up to RM112 billion of investments, with the thrust in the development of sectors such as tourism, oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture and education, for the next 13 years.
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) chairman Tan Sri Hassan Merican (pic) said 47% of the projected investments would come from the private sector and the remainder from the government. He said the allocation to develop the transportation infrastructure alone would take up more than 40% of the RM112 billion.
Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Hassan said the ECER development plan would be the basis for guiding the development of the region, which comprises 66,736 sq km of land or 51% of Peninsular Malaysia, from now until 2020.
“The main objective of the ECER development plan is to accelerate the growth of the region in a viable, equitable and sustainable manner.
“This will be undertaken through the development of programmes to raise incomes and reduce poverty by expanding employment prospects through the introduction of high-impact, catalytic projects to spur development in the region,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to launch the ECER, which will cover Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Mersing, Johor, in late October.
On ECER’s impact to society, Hassan said the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow at a faster rate of 7.2% compared with 6.3% for the whole of Malaysia by 2020.
It will also create 561,000 jobs and increase the monthly household income of the population in the ECER from RM2,267 now to RM5,227. The population in the ECER made up about 14.5% of the total population of 26.8 million in Malaysia.
The ECER is also the Malay heartland as bumiputeras make up 86.6%, followed by the Chinese at 7.8%, Indians at 1.8% and others at 3.8%.
Hassan said the plan would also address the economic imbalance in the region as the ECER states had among the lowest average household incomes in Malaysia.
Kelantan and Terengganu are also states with the highest level of poverty in Malaysia, which respectively account for 10.6% and 15.4% of the incidences of poverty in the country.
Hassan also revealed that the ECER would focus on key initiatives from sectors such as tourism, oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture and education.
Petronas, which conducted a study and drafted the master plan for the ECER, had among others identified 50,000 acres to 100,000 acres of land for the cultivation of rubber trees as a source for wood, he said.
It has also identified Kelantan as suitable for the cultivation of poultry and herbs, Terengganu for goat rearing and citrus valley and Pahang for cattle farming and pineapple.
The ECER would also see an optimal use of the Malay Reserve Land, which made up of about 40% of the land in the ECER, Hassan said, adding that there was a proposal to set up a trust to buy these land and landowners could also become members of the trust fund.
Hassan said like the Northern Corridor Economic Region, the ECER would also come under the purview of an Act of Parliament, and there would be a council presided by the prime minister to oversee its implementation.
The council will also consist of the deputy prime minister, mentris besar of the four states, two federal government ministers, the federal government’s chief secretary, two representatives from the public sector, two representatives from the private sector, and the council’s chief executive officer.
“The power of the council is quite extensive. It will act and authorise (projects) on behalf of the government,” Hassan said, adding that a bill on the ECER would be tabled in the Parliament in December.
On Petronas’ involvement in the ECER, he said the government had only asked Petronas to come up with a master plan. He added that Petronas would continue operating its business in the region as usual.
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