KUCHING : “To date, a total of 745 manufacturing projects with investments worth RM71.2 billion have been implemented in Sarawak. Through these projects, we want to create opportunities for SMEs to access global market and at the same time, encourage multinational corporations (MNCs) to utilise local products and services.
The strong presence of many MNCs and large local corporations (LLCs) located here and the fact that big names such as OCIM and X-Fab have made significant investments in Sarawak hold much promise for business collaboration and opportunities within this region,” said Datuk N. Rajendran, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) during the Supply Chain Conference for East Malaysia held yesterday at UCSI Hotel, Kuching here.
“Before today’s event, MIDA had organised 4 supply chain conferences in various regions in Malaysia, focusing on the respective region’s economic strengths. With this initiative, which definitely will continue in the future, we hope that more local players would be able to build up their capacities by integrating themselves into the MNC’s supply chain,” elaborated Datuk N. Rajendran.
The one day event, jointly organised by MIDA, Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA) and General Electric (GE), was officiated by Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais, Assistant Minister for Entrepreneur and Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Development on behalf of the Chief Minister. Under the Budget 2018, the government has agreed to further assist local companies to accelerate their adoption of smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.
These incentives include additional matching grants of RM245 million under the Domestic Investment Strategic Fund (DISF) to upscale Smart Manufacturing facilities, extension of the incentive period for Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) on automation equipment year of assessment (YA) 2018 to YA 2020 and accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) up to 200% for manufacturing and manufacturing related services sectors.
The Supply Chain Conference for East Malaysia featured two panel discussion sessions undertaken concurrently. The first session was moderated by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson Baya Dandot, CEO of RECODA with key panelists from Press Metal, Cahya Mata Sarawak, LONGi and Malaysian Phosphate Additives.
While the second session was a dedicated session for GESouth Asia& ASEAN, mainly for the Power Generation, Oil & Gas, and Renewable Energy sectors. Additionally, the Conference also featured a business meeting session with the participation of 11 anchor companies such as OM Materials, Harbour-Link Group, Saddad Resources, Berger International, Cosmos Chemical and Sakura Ferroalloys.
