By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 9 — China’s top aluminium producer, Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), together with GIIG Holdings, a local consortium, will develop an aluminium smelter plant in Sarawak in a move set to boost investments there.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today the joint-venture is expected to gain US$1 billion (RM3.43 billion) worth of investments in its first phase.
He said the investment by Chalco, a state-owned company and the country’s second biggest alumina producer, signalled the confidence of the Chinese government in Malaysia’s economy and investors.
At the same time, the prime minister said the energy industry in Sarawak will likely be boosted given the project’s high energy requirement.
“This will be good for the development of coal because hi-tech industries like this will be situated in Sarawak,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing of Heads of Agreement (HoA) here.
The aluminium smelter and its secondary industries are expected to create some 2,100 jobs in Sarawak said GIIG director Shahrir Shariff.
“Consequently, (this will help) increase household incomes and improve living standards as well as provide skills enhancement opportunities for the people of Sarawak,” he said.
The idea was first mooted by then premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and was intended to utilise the excess power from the Bakun Dam Project while capturing the expected demand growth in the Asian region.
Dr Mahathir was also present at the HoA signing event.
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