Investment opportunities at Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) Lahad Datu with special reference to biofuels

Abstract

Agriculture has long been a mainstay of the economy of Sabah with-relatively little contribution from industrial activity. At 1.4 million hectares, Sabah is the largest oil palm growing state in Malaysia. With the abundant oil palm raw materials for value adding, the Sabah State Government established the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) Lahad Datu in 2005 as the catalyst in spearheading the state industrial drive through provision of appropriate physical infrastructure and policies. POIC thus serves as the center for integration of investment in upstream and downstream industries. The development of other industrial clusters such as logistics and oil and gas will follow in stages. The National Biomass Strategy 2020 mentioned in this chapter aims not only to generate a gross national income (GNI) of RM30 billion to the national economy by 2020 but also to meet the nation's renewable energy target, reduce emission, and create about 66,000 jobs by 2020.