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SPEECH FOR YAB CHIEF MINISTER OF SARAWAK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SIGNING CEREMONY OF THE PRINCIPLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SARAWAK STATE GOVERNMENT AND HUCHEMS

ON 1ST DECEMBER 2014 AT GARNET ROOM, LEVEL 37,

LOTTE HOTEL, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Contents

1. Salutation .................................................................................... 2

2. South Korea’s Industrialisation Policy and Experience ......... 5

3. Sarawak your preferred investment destination..................... 6

4. Conclusion .................................................................................. 8

1.   Salutation

§     Mr.   Park  Yeon  Cha,   Chairman   of  Tae   Kwang   and

Huchems

§     Mr. Choi Gyu Sung, Chief Executive Officer of Huchems

§     The Honourable Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah bin Ali Hasan, Second Minister for Resource Planning and Environment, Minister for Industrial Development and Minister for Public Utility

§     Your  Excellency  Dato’  RohanaRamli,  Ambassador  of

Malaysia to Republic of Korea

§     Distinguished guests

§     Ladies and Gentlemen

§     A very good morning to all of you.

§     First of all, I would like to thank the Chairmanof Tae Kwang and Huchemsfor inviting us to visit their plant inSouth Korea. It is for this very reason we are here in Seoul today.

§     Indeed I feel very honoured to be invited and delighted to  be  present  in  this   auspicious  event.   I  believe members of my delegation feel the same.

§     I know it will be a very busy working visit as there are meetings to attend and not forgetting the visits to many places of interest namelycultural and heritage sites in Seoul.

§     Through this mission, wehope to know from you not only about industrialisation but also to have some insights on the history, technology advancement and tourism development in South Korea.

§     Today    is    another    significant    milestones    in    the development   of   Sarawak   because   lateron   we   will witness the signing of the Principle Agreement between Huchems and Sarawak State Government for the proposed Huchems petrochemical plant in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia and also the signing of Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Sarawak State Governmentand Taekwang Group on the proposed shoe manufacturing project in Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia.

§     It is also opportune for me to mention here that we are very serious about these projects and are committed in ensuring the success of these projects in the State of Sarawak.

Ladies and Gentlemen

§     The signing of these agreements is not just about the proposed projects but more importantly it signifies the beginning of a long term relationship and cooperation between Sarawak State Government and Huchems of South Korea especially in the area of high value added petrochemical industry.

§     We know that Korea is already a developed nation but for Sarawak, we want to become a high income and developed State by the year 2020. For this reason, I believe that there are many things that we could learn from our South Koreancounterpart especially on the industrialisation policy and their experiences.I believe we have many similarities and common interests. For example your “K-Pop” music and dramas have many followers in Sarawak.

2.   South      Korea’s     Industrialisation       Policy      and

Experience

Ladies and Gentlemen

§     We know that South Korea is one of the fastest growing economies and now it is a developed nation with a Nominal GDP of USD1.449 trillion with a GDP per capita of more than USD32,000 in 2014 .  This is indeed a remarkable  achievement  by  any  world  standard,  in which many developing countries considered it as a model of successful economy. I believe that we in Sarawak could learn from your success as we aspire to go along the same path of industrialisation.

§     Undoubtedly, there must be some special ingredients for the success of South Korea, despite the fact that you have limited natural resources. It is clearly indicated that South Korea hasformulated a comprehensive industrialisation policy which started with emphasis on manufactured goods for exports and later move into higher value added segments along the value chain with strong  investment  in  the  human  capital  and infrastructure.

§     Besides, I am happy to note that South Korea hasalso formulated a Five Year Development Plan for economic development similar to Malaysia that sets targets and allocated   resources   to   achieve   the   objectives   of industrial  transformation.  For your information we  are now implementing our 10th Malaysia Plan (2011 – 2015) and preparing for our 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020).

§     I believe these industrialisation policyand development planshave contributed in creating a broad manufacturing base for South Korea especially in textiles, electronics, steel, chemicals and shipbuilding.They have also successfully created world class conglomerates or chaebol such as Samsung, Hyundai, Lotte and not forgetting  Huchems.  We  hope  that  we  could  do  the same through our Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy or SCORE Development Plan in whichwe haveidentified 10 priority industries.In this respect, we strongly believe that Huchems proposed investment in Sarawak will help us to achieve this noble objective.

3.   Sarawak your preferred investment destination

Ladies and Gentlemen

§     We  want  to  have  rapid  economic  growth  like  South Korea driven by the private sector with assistance from the Government in providing the necessary enablers to make them competitive in their business.

§    In this respect, we acknowledge that private investment is the key driver for the success of any nation economic growth. Therefore, we in Sarawak are also promoting more private investment. Being a business friendly Government we also provide the incentives needed by private sector. We are also hand holding them to ensure the success of their proposed investments in Sarawak.Suffice for me to mention that we are here to facilitate your investment.

§     We  are   fortunate   that   we   have   abundant   natural resources needed by the investors and we want to develop these resources for economic growth and development.  Therefore,  we  welcome  investors  who have the capital and technology to come to Sarawak so that we can become partners in the proposed project.

§     In this respect, we welcome Huchems who have the capital, technology and expertise in the petrochemical industry to come and invest in Sarawak by leveraging on our natural gas. The investment by Huchems will also help to position Sarawak in the petrochemical global supply chain.

§     We  know  that  Huchems  will  not  be  just  producing ammonia but will move further downstream to produce fine chemicals. We believe that this will help Sarawak to move up the value chain in the petrochemical industry. Besides, we hope that the relevant supporting industries from South Korea will also come and invest in Sarawak and that will create a petrochemical cluster in the State.

§     The    proposed    investment    by    Huchems    in    the petrochemical industry will create both business and employment opportunities in the State. With the coming of Huchems to Sarawak, the private sector in the State will have the opportunity to participate in whatever business spin-offs created by Huchems.

§     At the same time, the young Sarawakians will have the opportunities  to  work  in  the  proposed  manufacturing plant and other related industries supporting the plant. In this regards, we have in the State, many young, skilled and talented workforce who are ready to work with Huchems in their proposed manufacturing plant.

§     I must state here that the State Government is giving emphasis on technical and vocational education in ensuring that there are enough workers especially technicians to meet the workforce requirement of Huchems.

4.   Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen

§     Before  I conclude I  would  like  to  stress  that  we  are serious about this proposed investment and we will provide  you  the  necessary  assistance  required.  I  am sure that we all would like to see the success of this project in the near future.

§     I would like to say thank you to Huchems for the kind hospitality extended to us during our stay in Seoul.

§     I wish all the best in your endeavour to proceed with this project.

§     Thank you.