Published on: Monday, December 06, 2004 |
Kota Kinabalu: KKIP Sdn Bhd CEO Chong Hon Len said with the Government's support, the company can be the catalyst for all the components to be put in place by other government institutions and agencies to strive towards lofty goals.
These are like skilled, knowledgeable and prosperous society as well economic development.
"Our vision and mission statement show that the founders of KKIP Sdn Bhd did not see the company merely as a developer of industrial park, they envisaged very broad and important roles for the company," he said.
He said accordingly, the company conducted itself and took on many roles relevant to its vision and mission.
"However, some of these roles have been perceived to be irrelevant by people who mistook or misunderstood us as just another government-linked company dealing with industrial development," he added.
Chong said to build a skilled, knowledgeable and prosperous society is probably the desire of any social-conscious individual, organisation or government, although it is difficult to quantify what constitutes these.
"In that sense, KKIP Sdn Bhd is pleased that it is in a position to contribute to the process of transforming the Sabah society, which is at present not so skilled, not so knowledgeable, and not so prosperous," he said.
Chong said this at the KKIP Sdn Bhd's 10th Anniversary dinner held at the Pacific Wing of Sutera Harbour and Spa here on Saturday.
Saying the KKIP Sdn Bhd intends to stay the course on this journey, Chong also thanked the investors for their confidence to choose the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park as a place to plant their investment, saying that the park would be nothing without them, and hope they will continue their support for the park's next phase of development.
He said the park is expecting to substantially increase the number of investors setting up factories next year, from presently only about 70 factories operational there.
He also rendered a similar gratitude to the training and research institutions which have been set up in and around KKIP, including the Institut Kemahiran Mara, Mardi, Polytechnic Kota Kinabalu, Institut Latihan Perindustrian, Sabah Skills and Technology Centre, Sirim, Malaysian Timber Industry Board and the Institutions of Engineers Malaysia Training Centre.
Most of these Federal Government-funded institutions have been playing a very important role in attaining the company's vision of building a skilled and knowledgeable society.
As of October this year, KKIP Sdn Bhd has sold about 884.53 acres of land in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park with a sales value amounting to RM296.89 million.
Of this, about 59 per cent (519.04 acres) was industrial land sales which was sold to various individual investors, and another 27 per cent (237.96 acres) was purchased by research and development (R&D) and training institutions.
The balance of 14 per cent (127.44 acres) was sold for residential and commercial development purposes.
A total of 5,309 job opportunities have been created from the 757 acres of industrial and institutions sales in KKIP, of which 2,069 workers were employed by 71 operational factories which have a total investment of RM253 million.
Thirteen more factories are under construction, and expected to create some 2,190 jobs from a total of RM100 million worth of investment. Another 10 factories have submitted building plans, which are also expected to create some 885 jobs from RM36 million worth of investment.
Six training and R&D institutions are now operational in KKIP, and another three more institutions are expected to set up operation.
The operational institutions have invested RM328 million, and employed 165 staff. These institutions are capable of training more than 12,000 trainees yearly, apart from providing the needed R&D services to the park and its surrounding areas.
More factories are expected to be set up in KKIP in anticipation of the new Sepanggar Container Port's completion in 2006.
