Semenanjung-owned Alam Maritim Bhd gets even more contracts in Sarawak

Alam Maritim bags Sarawak contract, outperforms peers

  Borneo Post December 30, 2011, Friday

GOOD UTILISATION RATES: Photo shows Alam’s anchor handling tug supply vessel MV Setia Fajar. OSK Research believes that about 50 per cent of Alam’s vessels are now on long-term charters averaging about a year while the balance 50 per cent are on spot charter.

KUCHING: Alam Maritim Resources Bhd (Alam Maritim) is outperforming other public-listed offshore vessel operators in term of new contracts and quarterly earnings performance.
In the second quarter of financial year 2011 (2QFY11), the company chalked up a net profit of RM7 million, making further improvement in 3QFY11 with a net profit of RM13.4 million on the back of better vessel utilisation.
Elaborating on this trend, OSK Research Sdn Bhd (OSK Research) remarked, “We believe that about 50 per cent of Alam Maritim’s vessels are now on long-term charters averaging about a year while the balance 50 per cent are on spot charter.
“Athough its utilisation rate fluctuates monthly, we understand that on average it is still hovering at 60 to 80 per cent.
“Judging from the industry’s current operating environment, we believe this rate is reasonable in view of the fact that Petronas and its production sharing contractors and still handing out minimal new vessel contracts.”
Alam Maritim also announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd, recently received an award from Sarawak Shell Bhd for the E8 and F13K modules offshore transportation and installation contract estimated at RM29.8 million.
The non-renewable contract which would be for a period of nine months, commenced in 4Q11 and was expected to be completed by May 2012.
The research house was positive on the development but no change to Alam’s FY11 and FY12 earnings, rationalising, “This is because we had earlier assumed that the company would secure some jobs to replenish its orderbook. The contract amount is also not substantial, making up only about 15 per cent of Alam’s total revenue.
“Although we think the group is out-performing its peers, this development has been partly factored into its share price valuation,” OSK Research stated, keeping its fair value for Alam unchanged at RM0.85 per share, based on the existing price earnings ratio of 12 times FY12 earnings per share.

Sarawak not spared from global economic downturn

by Jasmine Chin jasminechin@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 23, 2011, Friday

KUCHING: As the gloomy outlook persists around the global economy, Sarawak despite the ongoing Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) programme will not be spared from the external headwinds.

SLOWER GROWTH: Image captures an overview of the Kuching city. Investments are expected to be postponed following the less than promising business sentiments premised on the gloomy global market outlook – Bernama photo.

An economist from RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd (RHB Research) said that the state would see its growth trending on slower grounds, and foreign investments would not be flowing in as rapidly in the coming year.
“We are expecting gross domestic product to slow down to 3.6 per cent and this is premised mostly on macro-economic factors.  There is a lot of turmoil going on in the global market now and this will inevitably cause less than optimistic business sentiments. Despite the ongoing SCORE programme, Sarawak is still very much dependent on the export of its oil and gas as well as its natural resources.
“However, this is only a projection for the immediate term as I believe the Sarawakian state with its competitive energy rates offered to investors will seek to encourage an influx of investment in the long-run,” he said in a phone interview with The Borneo Post.
With a decelerating global economy putting the brakes on the local economic growth, he believed that the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would most likely cut its overnight policy rates (OPR) by 25 to 50 basis points (bps) in the first half of next year.
“BNM has shifted its focus from inflation to growth and we believe it will likely be proactive and begin cutting interest rate early next year should the need arise. We expect it to trim the OPR by 25 to 50bps in the first half of the coming year, if global economic conditions worsen.
“The statutory reserve ratio of banks however will likely remain unchanged at four per cent of total eligible liabilities in the months ahead, as short-term capital has reversed into outflows gradually since June this year,” he pointed out.
In his view, following the peak of the inflation rate for the past 11 months, he believed that the rate would most probably moderate to an average of 2.8 per cent next year from the estimated 3.3 per cent initially noted.
“Similarly, month-on-month, the rate of inflation had eased to 0.1 per cent in November, after growing at a faster pace of 0.2 per cent in October and end of September. This comes to show that price pressures have abated somewhat but will remain sticky downward given the resilient domestic demand.
“On the whole, in the first eleven months of this year, inflation rate had picked up to 3.2 per cent year-on-year from 1.7 per cent the corresponding period of last year. As such, we believe inflation has reached its peak and we are expecting it to moderate to an average of 2.8 per cent next year,” he highlighted.
This was on account of slower global economic growth that would most likely translate into a more moderate increase in demand and lower price pressure.
He however, pointed out that should the government reduce its subsidies for energy, inflation could stay at an elevated level.
“If the government reduces its subsidies for energy, from fuel to gas supply for power plants and industries, once every six months according to the plan, that will lead to higher input costs and part of it will likely be passed on to consumers. Also traders are likely to take advantage of the situation to raise other retail products and services prices,” he said.

PNB: Agihan ASB 8.80 sen

Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid bersama-sama Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman menunjukkan replika pengagihan pendapatan ASB di Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

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KUALA LUMPUR 19 Dis. - Permodalan Nasional Bhd. (PNB) hari ini mengumumkan agihan pendapatan Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) sebanyak 7.65 sen seunit dan bonus 1.15 sen seunit bagi tahun kewangan berakhir 31 Disember 2011.
Pada tahun lalu, PNB mengumumkan agihan pendapatan ASB sebanyak 7.50 sen seunit manakala bonus pula sebanyak 1.25 sen seunit.
Pengerusinya, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid berkata, PNB memperuntukan bayaran sebanyak RM7.04 bilion melibatkan 7.3 juta pemegang unit yang melanggan lebih daripada 95.9 bilion unit ASB.
Peruntukan bagi pembayaran bonus pula berjumlah RM628.29 juta oleh PNB.
Ahmad Sarji berkata, sehingga 15 Disember ini, ASB telah memperoleh pendapatan kasar sebanyak RM7.19 bilion, yang mana pendapatan dividen pelaburan dalam syarikat-syarikat menyumbang sebanyak RM4.09 bilion.
''Keuntungan dalam penjualan saham syarikat-syarikat pula menyumbang sejumlah RM2.25 bilion atau 31.3 peratus kepada jumlah pendapatan kasar dan selebihnya RM0.85 bilion melalui pendapatan pelaburan instrumen-instrumen jangka pendek dan lain-lain pendapatan,'' kata beliau ketika mengumumkan agihan pendapatan ASB hari ini.
Turut hadir sama Presiden dan Ketua Eksekutif PNB, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman.
Sementara itu, Hamad Kama Piah menyifatkan agihan pendapatan ASB pada tahun ini adalah terbaik selepas mengambil kira ketidaktentuan ekonomi dan pasaran kewangan sejagat.
''Jumlah agihan pendapatan dan bonus 8.80 sen adalah terbaik kerana ASB pelaburan jangka panjang,'' tambahnya.
Katanya, PNB telah memperuntukan sebanyak RM3 bilion sebagai rizab bagi ASB yang akan dibawa ke hadapan.
Menurut Hamad Kama Piah, pada tahun ini jumlah unit amanah ASB telah meningkat melebihi RM13 bilion berbanding RM12.1 bilion pada 2010. Setakat ini, jumlah dana ASB dan unit-unit amanah lain berjumlah RM17 bilion.
Ahmad Sarji menambah, pengiraan pengagihan pendapatan ASB berdasarkan kepada purata baki pegangan minimum bulanan bagi tempoh pelaburan sepanjang tahun kewangan ASB berakhir pada 31 Disember 2011.
Pengiraan bonus pula mengikut purata baki pegangan minimum bulanan yang dimiliki pelabur dalam tempoh 10 tahun bermula 2002 sehingga 2011.
Pembayaran pengagihan pendapatan dan bonus ASB akan dikreditkan dalam buku pelaburan pemegang unit dan buku pelaburan boleh dikemas kini mulai 3 Januari 2012.
Semua urus niaga ASB ditangguhkan mulai 21 Disember ini sehingga 2 Januari 2012 bagi tujuan pengiraan agihan pendapatan dan bonus.

Tiong family-owned Jaya Tiasa profits nearly RM 200 million every year from Sarawak logging and palm oil plantations

Jaya Tiasa to gain from increasing FFB volume and higher log prices

Borneo Post December 14, 2011, Wednesday

ROBUST GROWTH: Photo shows logging activities being undertaken in Sarawak.

KUCHING:According to RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd (RHB Research), Jaya Tiasa recorded an average selling price (ASP) for its logs of RM741 per cubic metre (m3) in the first quarter of FY12 (1QFY04/12), an increase of 3.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Jaya Tiasa is just one of many big companies owned by Sir Tiong Hiew King family made nearly RM 200 million profit from Sarawak for the year ending July 2011.  Sir Tiong Hiew King family related-owned  companies have been given over a million acres in Sarawak by Chief Minister Abdul Taib.
The high log prices were mainly due to acute shortage in log supply during the early part of 2011, as production was hampered by extremely wet weather condition in Sarawak. Log prices had since eased as log production volume normalised over the past few months.
“Due to lower log prices (we estimate its log prices to average about US$220/m3), we therefore expect Jaya Tiasa to report lower earnings from its log division in its upcoming 2QFY04/12 quarterly results,” RHB Research stated in its research report yesterday.
Jaya Tiasa’s strategy was to maximise its log exports quota first (50 per cent currently) before using its own harvested logs for downstream plywood manufacturing, as margins for logs were higher now compared with plywood. Hence, this was why the capacity utilisation rate of its plywood division remained low at only between 50 per cent and 60 per cent.
“The company typically produces lower-grade general plywood, but there had been a shift to produce more higher-grade plywood recently to take advantage of the higher demand from Japan after the March earthquake disaster. This is evidenced by the sharp 31 per cent increase in Jaya Tiasa’s plywood ASP to RM2,074/m3 in 1QFY04/12,” it stated.
With that, Jaya Tiasa was likely to continue to produce more higher-grade plywood in the near term, as current prices for general plywood had been rather weak due to the oversupply issue, while prices for higher-grade plywood had been holding up quite well.
The group also pointed out that its fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production volme was set to grow significantly by 30 per cent to 45 per cent per annum over the next few years as more oil palm trees come into maturity. Hence, this would drive Jaya Tiasa’s earnings growth going forward, despite the relatively flat CPO price assumptions of RM3,100 per metric tonne (MT) in 2012 and RM2,900/MT in 2013.
“Given the new FFB production targets by management, we therefore revise upwards our FY04/12-14 FFB production forecasts between two and four per cent. Our FFB production forecasts are usually higher than management’s targets, as Jaya Tiasa has always been conservative in guiding its FFB production target,” said the research firm.
As at July 31, 2011, Jaya Tiasa had about 15.5 million treasury shares, or about 5.5 per cent of its share base. It had been reluctant to sell its treasury shares to the market, as management deemed the share price was too low and did not truly reflect the earnings growth potential of the company.
RHB Research further pointed out that Jaya Tiasa’s management seemed to have warmed up to the idea of selling its treasury shares, although it stressed that it would only do it at the right time and at the right price. Jaya Tiasa hinted that it might sell the treasury shares in the future in order to raise funds for potential landbank acquisitions to reduce its gearing.
“Overall, we believe a sale of the treasury shares to the market will be beneficial for Jaya Tiasa as this will help to improve the trading liquidity of its shares,” said the research firm.
Going forward, RHB Research continued to favour Jaya Tiasa as there would be a significant boost to its earnings from plantation due to increasing FFB production volume and favourable CPO prices. This could provide ‘earnings comfort’ to investors and also help to cushion the more volatile earnings from timber.
Based on target price earnings ratio of eight times CY12 earnings for the timber division and 12 times CY12 earnings for the plantation division, RHB Research pegged its target price to RM7.28 per share, from RM6.71 per share previously, at a 10 per cent discount to sum-of-part-based fair value.

Rimbunan Hijau increases business presence in China

Rimbunan Hijau shortlisted as lead company

Rimbunan Hijau will invite other Malaysian companies to jointly develop the Qinzhou-Malaysia Industrial Park in China

Nanning (China): Rimbunan Hijau Group has been shortlisted as the lead company from Malaysia to jointly develop the 55 sq km Qinzhou-Malaysia Industrial Park in south-west China, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

Najib said Rimbunan Hijau will invite other Malaysian companies, which can include government-linked companies, to participate in the development of the industrial park.

"They (Rimbunan Hijau) have strong financial back-up and good networ-king in China," he told the Malaysian media here yesterday.

The Chinese government has invited Malaysian companies to take up a 49 per cent stake in the joint-venture company to develop the park. The first phase of the park, covering 15.1km area, costs about 4.8 billion reminbi (RM2.37 billion).

Najib said works on the large-scale industrial park have started and the project will be launched soon.

He said the project is significant in the cooperation between Malaysia and China and will enhance trade between Asean and China as the park is near to Asean and is supported by a deepwater port.

Malaysian companies will be able to demonstrate their expertise to handle projects of such a scale, he added.

The prime minister said he has asked Malaysia-China Business Council chairman Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting to give special attention to the project.

"I will appoint him as Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China, so that he will have more influence to deepen the relations between Malaysia and China," he said.



The development of the industrial park, which will be done in three phases, is scheduled to be completed within 15 years.

By Business Times

Hii King Chiong family companies profit from nearly 1,000,000 acres in Sarawak

Rinwood Sago Plantation Sdn Bhd, Delta Padi Sdn Bhd and Borneo Agri-Resouces Sdn Bhd are among the many companies owned by the Foochow Hii family.  These 3 companies alone are presently profiting from nearly 200,000 acres of Plantation approval in Sarawak.  It is reported that Rinwood Group has nearly 800,000 acres in LPF and TL for cutting timber in Sarawak.  With turnover of over a billion annually the group profits in the hundreds of millions every year.

Hii King Chiong have now entered mainstream politics by trying to capture the SUPP (Sarawak United People's Party) Piasau, Miri branch chairman post.  Hii family and the multi-billion group Rimbunan Hijau are backing Wong Soon Koh to take over SUPP.

With the promise of getting hundreds of thousands of acres more if Wong Soon Koh takes control of SUPP then the Kingwood Group of Companies will be elevated to the multi-billion category.

Rimbunan Hijau adds Mineral Wealth to its logging wealth in Papua New Guinea

Siburan Resources (ASX: SBU) is focused on the discovery of gold and uranium deposits in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia, and also has projects in New Zealand targeting tungsten and gold.

Following the listing of Siburan Resources in May 2010, the company's current primary focus surrounds the development of its key projects, the Mt. Pleasant Gold Project and the Goongarrie/Lake Marmion Uranium project. It has also expanded its portfolio of gold and uranium projects with the acquisition of the Canegrass project and the expansion of the Lake Marmion Uranium tenements.

Siburan Resources adds PNG exploration JV with RH Resources to its portfolio

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 by Proactive Investors

Siburan Resources (ASX: SBU) has turned up the heat, entering a joint venture with RH Resources Limited to seek and acquire mineral exploration and mining tenements in Papua New Guinea.

The association with RH Resources is paying dividends as in November, the company took a placement of 10 million shares in Siburan as part of a capital raising becoming a substantial holder in Siburan.

RH Resources is associated with Malaysia's Rimbunan Hijau Group, one of Malaysia’s largest multi-industry companies.

Under the agreement, Sibruan will hold a 30% share of the joint venture and RH will hold the balance of the joint venture. Funding of the JV will be on a pro-rata basis in proportion to holdings.

PNG is the one of the world’s most prospective regions for mineral wealth and currently has several world class operating mines including Porgera and Mt Kare.

Siburan Resources’ managing director, Mr Noel Ong said, “We are very excited to be working with RH Resources as we intend to be a significant mineral exploration player in PNG. PNG is a world class resources area, rich in precious and base metals such as gold, copper and nickel.

“Papua New Guinea is famous for its large multi-million ounce gold deposits such as Porgera and Mt Kare. In addition, the recent development of the Hidden Valley and Wafi deposits highlights that there are still large deposits undiscovered or undeveloped.

“We firmly believe that partnering with the RH Resources will allow us to establish ourselves as a major player in a very prospective yet challenging area. We are confident our exploration activities will be well funded and managed given the significant experience of our partner in PNG.”

Siburan will have an active management role in the sourcing and management of the exploration projects.

RH Resources Limited is a Malaysian registered company (under the Labuan Company Act 1990) in which the sole director and shareholder is Mr David Chiong Ong Tiong. Mr David Tiong is also the executive director of the Rimbunan Hijau Group (“RH Group”).

The RH Group is one of Malaysia’s largest multi-industry companies operating and controlling many industries in many countries around the world. It has established a successful presence in PNG for 22 years. The group was established in 1975 and has an estimated annual turnover of more than 1 billion US dollars, according to the Malaysia-China Business Council.

Yaw Teck Seng and Yaw Chee Ming has nearly 2,000,000 acres land in Sarawak

Posted on November 4, 2011, Friday

KUALA LUMPUR: 
Lingui had a gross area of 721,000 hectares (over 1,780,870 acres) of forest concession in Sarawak and about 35,000 hectares of forest plantation in New Zealand.
“We are focusing on logging  here (Sarawak), because the maturity period for the trees in Malaysia is shorter, which is only 10 years compared with our forest plantation in New Zealand, which takes 27 years to mature,” said group managing director Yaw Chee Ming at a press conference after the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.
“So far we have planted about 30,000 hectares and we target to plant between 10,000 and 15,000 hectares, in order to increase our production,” he said.
Log trading is Lingui’s major business segment accounting for about 34 per cent of the group’s total revenue for the year ended June 30, 2011.
China and India were the biggest export markets for the period, consuming 36 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, of Lingui’s log production.
China’s demand for both hardwood and softwood logs remained steady fuelled by its buoyant economic growth and continued expansion in the housing and infrastructure sector.
India’s demand for imported hardwood species remained robust driven by a construction boom to meet demand for housing in urban areas.
Meanwhile, Yaw, in a statement issued after the AGM said both the group’s hardwood and softwood log export prices were 18 per cent and 20 per cent higher than the preceding financial year, with notable sharp price and gross profit margin run-ups noted during the fourth quarter in response to the Japanese earthquake in March.
Moving forward, the company remained cautious as demand for timber normalised and consolidation was expected to take place among industry players.
“There is overstocking of plywood in Japan with the initial spike in plywood imports with no major reconstruction activities taking place,” said Lingui.
Hence, the group’s performance would largely depend on the recovery in Japan through its post-earthquake reconstruction activities and continued stable demand for logs from China and India, said Yaw.
“We believe when Japan’s rebuilding efforts intensifies it will require substantial volume of timber and that would drive demand and prices for both logs and plywood,” he added.

James Ling and Hasmi Hasnan-owned Dayang Berhad with over 1.5 Billion contracts wants more

Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:18

KUCHING (Nov 3): Sarawak-based oil and gas services provider, DAYANG ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS BHD [] (DEHB), expects further growth after chalking up successful quarters on strong order book of RM1.5 billion until 2016. Its executive chairman, James Ling, said on Thursday the company, listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia in 2008, recorded a strong second quarter on Petronas Carigali deal. "The primary enabler of DEHB's success is Petronas' Vendor Development Programme, a programme aimed at providing local contractors with incentives and the confidence to increase their capital base," he told Bernama here Thursday. He said DEHB's success and accomplishments over the past 30 years were mainly due to the support and guidance from Petronas Carigali, Shell and Murphy Oil. The monopoly Vendor Develpment Programme programme also allowed DESB to expand its business and become a competitor in the international and local markets, he said. Ling said DEHB qualified for the programme by bringing in Bumiputera partners. DEHB started in 1980 as a hardware and manpower supplier with a capital of only RM10,000, four employees and 100 offshore workers. Today it is a thriving enterprise providing maintenance services, fabrication operations and hookup and commissioning services with 300 employees and 1500 workers deployed to its offshore operations.

Paul Yu controlled-HSL bags yet another contract to continue profiting from Sarawak Infrastructure Contracts

KUCHING: Sarawak-based Hock Seng Lee Berhad (HSL) has secured a new rural water treatment plant project in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) worth RM90.28mil, its managing director Datuk Paul Yu Chee Hoe said today.
He said the contract period for the project, to be constructed in Samalaju 60km north of Bintulu - one of the three growth nodes along the central coastline - would be 17 months with site possession scheduled for next month.
“The project marks the infrastructure and marine engineering specialist's first successful tender result for a project to be directly awarded by the Regional Corridor Development Authoriy (Recoda) and we hope there will be more,” he said in a statement.
He said the project scope includes substantial mechanical and electrical works, earthworks, drainage and retaining structures, piling, piping and construction of the treatment plant and associated works.
These invlove the construction and commissioning of a pump house, chemical house, aerators, flocculation tanks, sedimentation tanks and other filtration process facilities, he said.
Designated as the state's new heavy industry hub, Samalaju is a growing township that has seen a recent influx of foreign investors engaged in metal-related production while Recoda is responsible for spearheading, managing and promoting the Score development. - BERNAMA

250,000 hectares of rubber plantation in Sarawak by 2020 - Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu

250,000ha for rubber by 2020

Sarawak Tribune Tuesday, 11 October 2011 11:19 | Written by Anthony Punan | | |

MIRI: The government has proposed to expand rubber plantation area to 250,000 hectares by 2020 which will benefit as well as improve the living standard of more than 350,000 rural residents in the state.

This was disclosed by Deputy Chief Minister DatukPatinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang who is also Minister for the Modernisation of Agriculture and Rural Development when officiating at the NKEA (National Key Economic Area) Rubber Lab at a leading hotel here yesterday.

Dayang Enteprise Bhd/Perdana Petroleum Bhd tie up can possibly lead to Petra Energy/Dayang Duopoly

 

Possible tie-up to forge brighter future for Dayang

Posted on October 6, 2011, Thursday

SOARING AHEAD: Photo shows Dayang Pertama, Dayang’s work and maintenance vessel, performing its purpose. Dayang’s future appears to be bright as reports of a possible acquisition of Perdana Petroleum’s shares surfaced over the weekend, indicating a possibly lucrative future business expansion plan.

KUCHING: Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd’s (Dayang) future appears to be bright as reports of a possible acquisition of Perdana Petroleum Bhd’s (Perdana Petro­leum) shares surfaced over the weekend, indicating a possibly lucrative future business expan­sion plan.
OSK Research Sdn Bhd (OSK Research) stated in its research report that mergers and acquisi­tions for Dayang had been within its expectations.
“We had previously highlighted in our reports that Dayang was cash-rich, with net cash of RM131.9 million as at June 2011, signifying a healthy and stable recurring in­come business for the company.

Federal Budget 2012 Part 2

Federal Budget 2012

Sarawak is 20% of Malaysian GDP - Oxford Business Group

Sarawak a leading example of Asean’s growth potential

by Ronnie Teo ronnieteo@theborneopost.com. 

INVESTOR GUIDELINE: Taib looks at a copy of The Report: Sarawak 2011 after the launch as Kucinas (left) looks on. This is OBG’s second report on the state, encompassing a sector-by-sector guide for investors, alongside interviews with political, economic and business leaders.

KUCHING: Sarawak is well on its way to developing its economy as foreign businesses and investors look to the state for investment opportunities.
According to Oxford Business Group’s (OBG) regional editor, Paulius Kucinas, Sarawak remained an attractive destination for capital investments as it rode on the structural rise for commodities worldwide.
This was said during the launch of The Report: Sarawak 2011, which provides in-depth detail on Sarawak’ current economic outlook and what the future holds for the state.
According to Kucinas in his opening remark, the new report described the pivotal juncture that Sarawak has reached as it prepared itself for faster economic growth by encouraging the private sector to get involved in major infrastructure developments.
“We are conscious of the fact that the global competition for capital and economic advantages is getting more intense every year as more countries and regions emerge onto the world stage, offering constant advantages, market access and new investment opportunities,” he noted.
“At the same time, we firmly believe that the current global economic cycle favours the Asean region which has emerged as a new safe haven for international investors and multinational companies. In this region, Sarawak stands out as a leading example of Asean’s growth potential,” Kucinas affirmed.
The regional editor underscored signs showing Sarawak’s economy expanding exponentially, from just RM527 million back in 1963 to RM50 billion by the end of 2010.
“Today, Sarawak’s economy accounts for nearly 20 per cent of Malaysia’s total GDP (gross domestic product),” said Kucinas. “The state is blessed with natural resources that underpin its economic growth fundamentals.
“The proceeds from hydrocarbons, crude palm oil, agriculture and timber will continue to ensure strength in both public and private sector balance sheets,” he added.
“While credit expansion will naturally increase its debt to GDP ratio once large development projects get underway we think Sarawak has plenty of room for manoeuvre. Its domestic banking sector faces none of the constraints which we nowadays see in the Europe and United States.”
The challenge going forward, Kucinas highlighted, would be to improve the productivity on existing sectors and capture higher value-add by going further downstream in resource-based industries while also diversifying the economy into new areas of economic activities.
The report was launched yesterday by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud. It is the group’s second report on the state, encompassing a sector-by-sector guide for investors, alongside interviews with political, economic and business leaders. It also provides case studies of successful business models while candidly discussing the challenged being faced in today’s marketplace.

Risda gets RM53mil grant from Pemandu to develop NR smallholders in Sarawak

SIBU, Sept 30 (Bernama) The Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) in the Prime Minister's Department has allocated RM53 million in grant for the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) to develop rubber smallholdings in Sarawak next year.

Datuk Bustari-owned Petra Energy increases vessels and lobbying power

Petra Energy to acquire more marine vessel

BINTULU: Petra Energy Bhd is looking at buying more work barges, work boats and supply vessels to support its increasing role in the offshore brown field work particularly in the oil and gas hubs in Sabah and Sarawak.
Executive director and chief operating officer Ahmadi Yusoff (younger brother of Datuk Bustari Yusuf) said the proposed aquisitions would be premised on a right mix of vessel portfolio and growing opportunities in offshore oil and gas operations.

Alam Maritim begins to corner the offshore support vessel contracts for oil and gas

More in the bag for Alam Maritim

by Jasmine Chin, jasminechin@theborneopost. Posted on September 22, 2011, Thursday

SMOOTH SAILING: The photo captures one of Alam Maritim’s offshore support vessels. Its recent RM22.1 million contract award demonstrates its ability in attracting further long-term contracts.

KUCHING: With the recent provision of one straight vessel awarded to Alam Maritim Resources Bhd (Alam Maritim), the group has it eyes on more projects going forward.
To recap, the group announced that 100 per cent subsidiary, Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd had received a letter of award from a local oil and gas company for the provision of one straight vessel for RM22.1 million.

Sarawak Oil Palm production increases in national market share

Sarawak’s share in Malaysian oil palm