Kota Kinabalu: The Malay Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia (MCCM) and Sabah Oil and Gas Contractors Association (SOGCA) together with Petronas organised a special clinic to assist its members to register with Petronas and obtain a Petronas licence, Thursday.According to MCCM Sabah Chairman Datuk Awg Buhtamam Ag Mahmun, the special clinic is for Petronas and Samsung/Naim to register and assist local MCCM members in Sabah who are interested in entering the oil and gas industry in the State.
"This clinic is specially set up for members of the MMCC and SOGCA who are interested to be involved in this field.
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"With the decision by Petronas to set up the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Sabah, we see many opportunities for local Sabah contractors.
However, many local contractors do not have this Petronas licence nor are they registered with Petronas, hence they are unable to participate in the oil and gas business to deal with Petronas.
"So that is why we need to have this clinic session with them," he said.
Buhtaman said this is the first time they are organising this clinic to help entrepreneurs who are interested to enter the oil and gas industry because without the licence they cannot do business with Petronas.
"In order for you to participate, you need the licence in order to enter the industry so that's why we are now doing this.
"In fact, we have received registrations from about 100 persons for this clinic session.
"Previously, the registration with Petronas was via the 'E-Laris' system where it was done through the Internet.
"However, due to many problems with documentation and so on, we were often forced to go to KL for the purposes of licence registration.
"So now Petronas has taken a pro-active step to hold the clinic here to meet with entrepreneurs who are interested in obtaining their licence."
Buhtamam said the clinic will be about registering these companies with Petronas and also to teach them on the steps and documentation on how to obtain the licence.
"The Petronas licence that they obtain is not necessarily confined to the SOGT project. We are confident there will be more Petronas projects in Sabah in future so when the opportunity arises, these licences can also be used for Sabah Petronas projects in areas such as offshore and also internationally if needed.
"This is what you call 'capacity building' for Sabahan contractors.
"There are many types of Petronas licences such as inshore and offshore, not only technical but also services such offshore food supply services, topside structural maintenance, material supply, fabrication, fire-fighting and non-processed and processed building supply, for example, so it's not confined to oil and gas per se.
"There are currently more that 3000 'subheads' (job categories in Petronas) available in the industry," he said.
Buhtamam also said If there is a big demand for another clinic from the members, they would be willing to discuss with Petronas to have it.
"Currently there are less than 10 MCCM members who are involved in the oil and gas industry and for SOGCA also under 10 people, hence the need to increase the number of local participants in the industry."
He also said if local contractors do not have the technical skills in the short term to carry out the work by themselves they can create 'smart partnerships' with existing companies which have the necessary skills, especially in high tech areas.
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