Tok Bali - Kelantan's new growth area for investment

Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob (left), East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Development Council chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John (third from left) and other officers at the ECER Implementation and Coordination meeting in Kota Bharu recently.

THE development of the Tok Bali Industrial Park (TBIP), a new industrial centre, is expected to transform Tok Bali as Kelantan’s new growth area for investment. 

Furthermore, the project will be supported by the completion of the Tok Bali Integrated Fisheries Park (TBIFP) and the Tok Bali Supply Base (TBSB) projects in the first quarter. 

The TBIP development is to cater to the anticipated growth in private investments in the region. Construction of the industrial park is expected to begin next year. 

“The ongoing and future developments in Kelantan are part of the Federal Government’s agenda to drive its continued transformation through greater investment in new growth areas, including Tok Bali, particularly in the manufacturing, agribusiness as well as oil and gas (O&G) sectors. 

“These developments reaffirm our shared commitment to spur the socioeconomic growth of the state and bring substantial benefits to the local population in terms of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities,” said the East Coast Economic Region Development Council chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John after the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Implementation and Coordination Committee (ICC) meeting yesterday. 

The ICC meeting was chaired by Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob. Under the development strategy for Tok Bali, the 90.45ha TBIFP is set to boost the development of the district and its surrounding areas. 

TBIFP is expected to propel Tok Bali as a main fisheries hub for both local and export markets, reinforcing its potential to draw private investments in the primary processing of fish-based products, otoshimi, fishmeal and supporting industries such as ice-making factories, with the integration of marine eco-tourism and hospitality sectors. 

Meanwhile, TBSB, Malaysia’s third O&G supply base, which is developed through a private initiative, is providing support services to the offshore O&G industry for the development of Petroleum and Gas Offshore Northern East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. 

Thus far, Kelantan has successfully attracted investment amounting to RM12.6 billion since 2007. This in turn has created 13,261 jobs for the rakyat. 

The government’s investment into key public infrastructure projects, such as the Tok Bali Port, Pengkalan Kubor Tak-Bai Narathiwat Bridge and the East Coast Expressway, is expected to further boost investment opportunities in Kelantan. 

The East Coast Rail Line will be a significant game-changer, as it will connect key industrial parks and growth areas in Kelantan, including Tok Bali, Kota Bharu and Tumpat, enabling the movement of goods and people between these areas through Tok Bali Port to other logistics hub, including Kuantan Port and Port Klang. 

With cost of freight transportation expected to be reduced by as much as 40 to 50 per cent relative to road haulage, investors will stand to benefit through lower production cost.

Source: New Straits Times | Business | 7 Feb. 2017