Kota Kinabalu: Japan’s largest energy company, Japanese Energy New Era (JERA), expressed interest in exploring joint investment opportunities with the Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC), particularly in the development of strategic infrastructure in Sabah.
Sogdc Chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said technical discussions were held with JERA, along with several other international investors, during their visit to the SOGDC office.
“They view Sabah as a highly strategic location in the oil and gas sector, as well as within the supply chain to major markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China.
“Sabah’s geographical location places it closer to these markets compared to Singapore. Additionally, Sabah offers more competitive operating costs and a ready pool of local workforce,” he told reporters after paying a courtesy call on Head of State, Tun Musa Aman.
The visit was to brief Tun Musa on SOGDC’s progress over the past 15 years since its establishment, including the latest developments in investment and the growth of the state government-owned corporation.
Rahman said this ensure continuity in negotiations with JERA and other investment partners, SOGDC plans to organise regular online meetings, as most of the stakeholders are based overseas.
“We are proposing weekly touch-base sessions of about half an hour to an hour via Zoom to ensure smooth technical coordination and project implementation,” he said.
According to him, JERA is excited about Sabah’s potential, and SOGDC is optimistic that this collaboration will attract more high-quality investments into the state, contributing to sustainable and competitive economic growth in Sabah.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Modec Inc sees its business expansion in Asean through Malaysia as the region’s gateway, as it opens its new execution centre here.
Group president and chief executive officer Hirohiko Miyata said Malaysia is a strategic location with a skilled workforce and dynamic business environment, making it an ideal home for the group’s regional expansion, Bernama reported.
“For us to meet that growth, we need to be more efficient, and we need to increase our capabilities, so having a hub in Kuala Lumpur is the beginning, and we want to expand more here when more opportunities come.
“We would also like to see more opportunities if any comes outside Malaysia, but what we are doing here is how we can collaborate in here and other operations outside Malaysia, so that on a global basis, we can work more efficiently and extract our maximum potentials to meet future demand for growth,” he said.
He told a press conference after launching the new execution centre here on Tuesday.
Miyata said establishing the company’s regional hub here reflected Modec’s long-term vision and confidence in Malaysia’s position as an increasingly competitive hub for regional business operations, innovation, and excellence.
He said that with the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) industry poised for significant growth over the next decades, the centre will enable us to drive innovation, enhance our project execution capabilities, and strengthen our regional presence.
“We are excited to contribute to Malaysia’s economic development and growth while delivering world-class solutions to our client,” he said.
Modec, a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company, is a leading provider of floating production solutions, such as FPSO vessels, to the offshore oil and gas industry while performing engineering, procurement, construction, and installation activities for FPSOs.
In a separate statement, the company said the regional hub will oversee engineering activities, construction, and managing installation and commissioning activities at offshore destinations.
“Beyond Malaysia, the hub will also support operations in India, China, Vietnam, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, and the United States, while driving key initiatives in front-end engineering design (FEED), pre-FEED execution, research and development, digital and analytics development, and project proposals,” it said.
