KUALA LUMPUR: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to spend half of the $10bn it expects to invest in Malaysia on a petrochemicals complex aimed at transforming the southeast Asian nation into a global hub for the oil and gas trade.
The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex in the southern state of Johor is expected to help Malaysia compete with neighbouring Singapore to become the region’s top petrochemical hub.
“We are in discussions about this. We may invest up to $5bn in the next three to four years into petrochemical projects here (in Pengerang),” Qatar Holding LLC Vice-Chairman Hussain Ali Al Abdulla told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“Qatar Holding’s total investment exposure to Malaysia will eventually exceed $10bn in various sectors,” he added.
Pengerang is expected to accumulate 170bn ringgit ($55.84bn) in investments by the time it begins operations in 2016. The complex includes the 60bn ringgit Petronas Refinery and Petrochemicals (RAPID) project by state-owned oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd.
Qatar Holding will spend 2bn ringgit ($656.92m) to build a luxury Harrods-brand hotel in the city centre. The hotel is jointly developed by Jerantas Sdn Bhd, linked to Malaysia’s sixth-richest man Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary.
The Peninsula
