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World
renowned Port of Rotterdam (PoR) has agreed to
share its expertise and extensive international
network in the development of the Palm Oil
Industrial Cluster (POIC) port in Lahad Datu.
This follows the signing of a framework of
agreement between the PoR and the state-owned
POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd in Rotterdam last Wednesday.
A culmination of more than a year of intensive
study and negotiations, the agreement was
formalised by PoR chief executive officer Hans
Smits and his POIC counterpart Dr Pang Teck Wai,
witnessed by chief minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
The PoR-POIC framework agreement is aimed at
replicating the success of Oman's Sohar
Industrial Port Corp and industrial complex, a
joint-venture between the Omani government and
PoR, to hasten the palm oil-based industrial
development within the POIC in Lahad Datu.
PoR will play a role in designing, developing
and managing the POIC port and it will also use
its wide influence to bring in investors to
Lahad Datu.
"Although the details of a final agreement are
still to be ironed out between the two parties,
we in the government of the State of Sabah are
looking forward to a day when the Sohar success
story can be replicated in Lahad Datu," Musa
said.
He is confident that with PoR's vast experience
in port development and management, it could
help turn Lahad Datu into an international
maritime hub by leveraging its importance in
global palm oil production and its strategic
location within the resource-rich East Asean
Growth Area (EAGA).
Musa noted that the Netherlands is already the
second biggest destination for Sabah's oil palm,
which is the state's major export item. "The
collaboration between PoR and the POIC Lahad
Datu port will help strengthen trade and
industrial links between the two ports and also
between the Netherlands and Malaysia," he said.
After witnessing the signing of the agreement,
Musa met with investors from the Netherlands who
are keen to participate in the development of
the 5,000ha POIC in Lahad Datu.
Prior to his trip to Rotterdam, Musa visited the
Sohar Industrial Port and held a meeting with
Omani minister of commerce and industry Maqbool
Ali Sultan in Muscat.
Source: NST
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