Malaysia Daily Media Highlights

MMC: To develop US$30bn Saudi economic region
MMC Corporation (MMC) announced that it has been awarded the rights to develop and manage the new US$30bn “Jizan Economic City” (JEC) in Saudi Arabia, together with the Saudi Binladin Group. MMC received the letter of award from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in Jeddah. Located 725 km south of Jeddah, by the Red Sea, JEC is envisioned to be a fully integrated and self-contained development which would comprise industrial and non-industrial zones on a site measuring approximately 117 sq km. JEC would be Saudi Arabia’s fourth Economic City to be launched after the Economic Cities of King Abdullah, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Mousaed and Madinah. It would be implemented over 30 years at a development cost of about US$30bn. MMC said that out of this amount, about US$17bn is anticipated to be the investment cost for the various projects within the industrial zones which would be borne by the different project proponents. The balance would be the development cost for infrastructure, commercial areas, residential areas and public amenities. “The new city’s industrial zone, representing more than two-thirds of the project, will accommodate a port, an aluminium smelter, a steel processing plant, an oil refinery, a copper processing plant, as well as fisheries and an agro-based industry. It would also include a power and desalination plant to support the industries, which will have an eventual capacity to generate 4,000 mega watts of electricity”, said Feiza Ali, Group Chief Executive of MMC. (Bernama)

DIALOG: ProJET for Sale
ConocoPhillips is putting up for sale its 40 ProJET stations in Malaysia and 147 stations in Thailand as part of a decision to sell non-strategic businesses, according to an unconfirmed source. The group is retaining its investment in the refinery project in Malacca and other upstream projects. (Star)

RANHILL: Mitsui-Ranhill group bids for RM1bn Brunei jobs
Ranhill Bhd, the country’s biggest engineering company, has teamed up with Mitsui Corp, Japan’s second largest trading company, to bid for RM1bn worth of contracts in Brunei, a Ranhill company source said. The Mitsui-Ranhill consortium that also includes QAF Oilfield Services Sdn Bhd, the second largest employer in Brunei, is bidding for contracts from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB). The BEDB has called for tenders seeking a service provider for the country’s Sungai Liang Industrial Park (SIP) project. The core aim of the SIP is to attract as much as US$4.5bn (RM16.4bn) in foreign direct investment as well as to position the industrial park on the back of Brunei’s gas reserves as the premier site for petrochemical and manufacturing industries in South-East Asia. (BT)

PETRA: Buying two vessels for RM189m
Petra Perdana Bhd is acquiring two new anchor handling offshore support vessels for RM94.57million each under its fleet renewal plan to provide marine support services to offshore oil and gas facilities. The company said it had entered into two separate memorandum of agreements with SK Line Company Ltd to purchase the vessels. Petra Perdana said it expected to take delivery of the two vessels in December 2008 and September 2009 respectively, which would be funded through internal financing and bank borrowings. (theedgedaily.com)

PECD: Unit accepts RM133m contract
PECD unit and its partner MMC Oil & Gas Engineering SB have secured a RM132.9m contract to build crude storage tanks for Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) second refinery, Phase 2 in Melaka. PECD said on Nov 3 that its unit Warga Hikmat Kejuruteraan Sdn Bhd had accepted a letter of award for the contract. It was awarded by Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Petronas and Conoco. It said the project duration was 26 months from November 2006 and would include the construction of all general services engineering works. PECD said the project would contribute positively towards its earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2007. (theedgedaily.com)

China: Reserve ratio is raised to curb over-investment
China’s central bank raised the statutory reserve requirement of banks to 9% from 8.5% to curtail a credit-fuelled investment boom. The increase in reserve ration, the third hike since July, coupled with the higher interest rates will slow the creation of domestic liquidity arising from high inflows of trade surplus. The central bank said it will continue to pursue a stable monetary policy and maintain a stable growth in bank lending.

US: Services growth surges in October
Activity in the US services sector compiled by the Institute for Supply Management rose to 57.1 in October (September: 52.9), higher than the consensus forecast of 54.5. Nine of 18 services sub-sectors reported increased activity in October. Prices paid index fell to 51.9 in October (September: 56.7), the lowest since July 2003, while new orders declined to 56.5 from 57.2 in September.