PUTRAJAYA: The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) received some
RM9.9bil in private sector investments last year, up 62.8% from
RM6.08bil committed in 2010. The figure surpassed its target of
RM6.67bil, achieved on the back of new investments from the agriculture,
manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors. Multinational
corporations contributed the bulk of the investment at RM8.92bil, while
local investments totalled RM877.7mil. The balance came from the
Government in the form of facilitation funds. Since January 2010, investments in the NCER are estimated to have created 26,267 jobs and business opportunities
.
The
NCER, one of five economic zones created by the Government to spur
development and private investment in various parts of the country, is
managed by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA). NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq
said at a briefing that the Government had also reduced its
facilitation funding to 1.15%, or RM114.2mil, of private investments
last year, from 8.99%, or RM546.6mil, in 2010.
Asked if the NCER
could post another record year for investments this year, Redza said he
was unable to reveal any targets as the region's first phase of
development is ending in 2012. “We need to work out a new set of
key performance indicators, and this would be decided after the next
council meeting. We should be able to say more by July,” he said. The NCER's second phase will be for five years beginning 2013, coinciding with the 11th Malaysia Plan.
On
whether the NCER could adopt a catalytic approach similar to Iskandar
Malaysia in Johor, which is a multi-billion ringgit development
involving major infrastructural changes, Redza explained that the two
regions were different, in that Iskandar Malaysia was more of a
greenfield while the NCER was a brownfield. “Our job is to leverage on existing opportunities, so the method differs from something that is greenfield in nature,” he said.
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