Malaysia will soon become one of the world's four deepwater oil and gas hubs, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with industry leaders like the United States, Brazil and Europe.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Asia-Pacific region has seen increased interest in deepwater development and Malaysia is already at the forefront of this development.
"Already we are an established hub in the subsea industry and soon we will become one of the world's four deepwater oil and gas hubs, with industry leaders such as the United States, Brazil and Europe," he said when opening Asiaflex Products Sdn Bhd plant, owned by Technip, at Tanjung Langsat, near Pasir Gudang, Thursday.
The plant, the first in the Asia-Pacific region, will produce high-tech flexible pipes and umbilicals for deepwater oil and gas fields in the region and the Middle East.
For a relatively small country like Malaysia, Najib said it was an achievement to be proud of as much of the country's growth in this area occurred organically through local talents in partnership with glocal industry players.
The Malaysian oil and gas industry, he said, has grown at a remarkable pace and presently the sector is an important segment of the national economy, with upstream and downstream businesses contributing RM17 billion to the economy last year.
"Over the years, Malaysia has grown from being solely a supplier of crude oil and gas to become a value-added provider of equipment and services, both domestically and throughout the Asia-Pacific region," said the prime minister.
He said that with Asiaflex's plant in Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia will now be home to the Asia-Pacific region's very first flexible pipe manufacturing facility, which will further entrench the country's leadership in the deepwater market and expand its foothold in the offshore oil and gas sector.
Najib said Asiaflex's 150 million euro facility in Tanjung Langsat is Technip's third plant in the world, joining two others in France and Brazil.
"This is testament to the strong interest that businesses have for this special part of Malaysia and the relatively early success we have been experiencing since the formation of Iskandar Region," he said.
-- BERNAMA
