PENGERANG (Johor) • Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak began his promised push for economic growth in Johor yesterday with a packed schedule.
Starting his two-day visit to the southern state, he officiated at the installation of a petroleum facility and later launched four stadium projects, The Star newspaper reported.
He ended the day by attending a meet-the-people session at a new mall in the evening, attended by thousands of people.
The moves came just days after Datuk Seri Najib said at the annual Umno assembly that he is driving economic growth by pushing for major projects. Johor is a stronghold state for the governing Barisan Nasional coalition led by Umno.
Today, the Premier is slated to attend several other events including opening a hotel on a reclaimed island off Johor called the Forest City Phoenix Hotel, and the 10th anniversary celebration of Iskandar Malaysia.
The petroleum project that he was at yesterday is part of the Petronas Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) located to the east of Singapore's Pulau Tekong.
The US$27 billion (S$38 billion) PIC is a refinery and petrochemical complex in Johor's Pengerang district, just off the petroleum- tanker lanes that pass through top oil trading hub Singapore.
PM Najib wrote on his Facebook account: "The Pengerang project is one of the main contributors towards rendering Malaysia's dream of having a RM2 trillion economy."
During his closing speech at the Umno assembly last Saturday, he said that in seven years' time Malaysia's economy could grow by 50 per cent to RM2 trillion (S$640 billion).
Mr Najib took a helicopter ride to view the mega PIC project which is entering its construction phase, New Straits Times (NST) newspaper reported yesterday.
He later attended a function for a RM350 million makeover project of Larkin Stadium, a major venue for sports in Johor.
The project, known as the Larkin Arena, will cover 42ha and includes the construction of a new indoor stadium.
Another stadium in the Larkin area will also be upgraded. A fourth sports venue, an athletics stadium, was also launched by Mr Najib.
The stadium projects will be built by state government companies, Johor Corp and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor.
"For two state government- owned companies to undertake such massive projects is a testament of the state's prowess as an economic powerhouse," said Mr Najib, according to NST.
