KUCHING: Zecon Bhd has received approval from the Sarawak government on the development of the Kota Petra Green Technology Park (KPGTP) here.
The company said it was informed of this by the state’s Ministry of Utility and Technology in a letter dated November 20.
Zecon will now apply to the Federal Ministry of Finance for KPGTP to be designation as a Special Economic Zone, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
The Sarawak government has also approved “all the land within KPGTP to be a special development (exemption for prohibition of foreign interest) area pursuant to Section 13E of the Sarawak Land Code” and the issuance of the electricity licence to Zecon to utilise solar power as primary source for generation and supply to customers or single buyer for the electricity produced.
The ministry, according to Zecon, is in the midst of finalising the terms and conditions of the licence which will be issued to Zecon in due course.
Via its subsidiaries, Zecon is the landowner of the 3,000 acres of KPGTP located in the Salak Land district.
On October 16, 2024, Zecon entered into a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Bhd (SDEC) and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centex) to achieve mutual benefits for all parties in the development of the KPGTP.
The development of the KPGTP requires the approval of the Sarawak government and/or other regulatory authorities for the following:
(a) Obtain Special Economic Zone status for KPGTP;
(b) Obtain Malaysia Digital Cybercity status for KPGTP, and
(c) Jointly manage KPGTP.
The salient terms of the MOU are:
(a) Parties intend to make KPGTP a fully integrated green high-technology corridor to include, amongst others, the high-tech industries, data centre park and innovation hubs powered by a 300MW solar farm coupled with a state-of-the-art battery energy storage system;
(b) SDEC shall have the exclusive rights to provide supporting services and amenities at KPGTP;
(c) Centexs shall have the exclusive rights to provide industry-based competency training with talent and skills department to meet the workforce needs and develop technology testbeds and technology applications towards commercialisation;
(d) Zecon shall be responsible for the management of KPGTP land, development of main road infrastructure and amenities along the road and building the 300MW solar farm as consented by the Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication Sarawak and Sarawak Energy Bhd, and
(e) All parties shall enter into a definitive agreement within six months following the signing of the MOU.
In a related development, Zecon had on November 19, 2024 entered into a strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) with Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB), SDEC and Global Network Inc (GNI).
“The objective of the SCA is for the purpose of developing and investing in commercial and/or industrial project at KPGTP by leveraging on the respective mandates of the parties and tapping into each other’s network, expertise and resources. The parties are integral to be value chain driving the sustainable growth of Sarawak economy,” said Zecon.
Selangor-based PHB is a real estate investment holding company. Its core business is to acquire, develop and manage properties at prime locations in Malaysia and to inject such properties to its licensed trust fund known as Amanah Hartanah Bumiputra.
GNI, which is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is a digital shared infrastructure provider.
On the salient terms of the SCA, Zecon said these are:
(I)The parties agree to engage in discussions as to explore further the possibility to perform the purpose, by developing any of the properties belonging to the parties and the third party in KPGTP;
(II) In the event the parties have come to a consensus and agree to proceed with a particular purpose and/or project, and it shall be recorded by separate definitive agreement(s) which include, amongst others, roles and responsibilities of the parties, transaction amount payable by the respective party and specific purpose of the development, and
(III) PHB will not enter into direct negotiation and/or investment arrangement with any of industrial investors in KPGTP, unless with prior written consent of Zecon, SDEC and GNI.
