Malaysia plans to set up new petrochemical zones will be set up in Bintulu, Sarawak; Gurun, Kedah; Tanjung Pelepas, Johor; and Labuan. Three new crackers will be built at these sites to provide additional feedstock to encourage the expansion of existing petrochemical plants. These investments will be undertaken through a consortium of joint ventures to enable the setting and sharing of the costs in building and maintaining the facilities at competitive levels.
Malaysia's industrial blueprint for 2006-2020, which has been recently unveiled, envisages:
* Manufacturing to grow an average of 5.6% pa to 2020, constituting 28.5% of the economy in 2020.
* Encouragement to 12 manufacturing industries, including electronics, medical devices, textiles, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and sectors based on timber, palm oil and rubber.
* Malaysia is Southeast Asia's biggest passenger-car market, accounting for 51% of total sales in the region in 2005. Consolidation of the 590 local parts suppliers that meet 92.5% of domestic demand.
* Investments in the petrochem industry targeted to grow at 7% par to 34 billion ringgit in 2006-2020. Exports are targeted to grow at 6.3% to 36.7 billion ringgit.
* Potential to expand and set up new petrochemical zones in Bintulu, Sarawak state; the island of Labuan; Gurun, Kedah state; and Tanjung Pelepas port, Johor state. More integration and downstream processing are needed within these zones.
19-Aug-06 
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