Get to work on growth areas, says Abdullah

Sunday December 14, 2008
Get to work on growth areas, says Abdullah
By NELSON BENJAMIN and MEERA VIJAYAN

JOHOR BARU: Authorities managing four of five development corridors have to follow through and “cannot just depend on me to think for them,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah said that with the exception of the Iskandar region, which has attracted RM40.2bil, the other corridors had to be more proactive in drawing in investments.

“I leave it to the respective authorities to think,” said Abdullah who told off the authorities managing the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) for not doing enough.

“I’ve created the opportunity, a very big area for them and given them the money. So start thinking, start looking for investments,” he said.

Abdullah said the respective authorities had been given the green light to travel wherever they wanted to go and use whatever resources to lure investments to their respective states and regions.

On whether the other corridors would be reviewed or even have their funds redirected into Iskandar, Abdullah said that was not necessary as adequate funding had been given to all corridors.

He said this at the agreement-signing ceremony for the new RM750mil Legoland Malaysia theme park, which would be located in Iskandar. He also said he hoped Legoland’s arrival would inspire others to invest in the region and gave his assurance that the federal and state governments will remain committed to the projects.

On the impact of the global economic crisis on the country, the prime minister said he expected investments to continue flowing into the country.

He also hinted that a major investment announcement, dubbed as the first of its kind in South-East Asia, would be made soon.

“There is a very big investment that is going to take place. I’m so tempted to announce it, but you will soon hear of it,” he said.

- The STAR Online -