Exxon and Coca-Cola to invest in Malaysia

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SINGAPORE: Two American companies are expected to make substantial investments in the local beverage and gas sectors soon.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said petroleum firm Exxon Mobil Corpora-tion had expressed its intention to venture into high CO2 content gas extraction while beverage giant Coca-Cola wanted to build a new modern plant in Malaysia.

“For Exxon, this will require additional investment as it is a new form of technology.

“They will need to build new turbines if they plan to use them to generate electricity,” he said, adding that the project would be located in Kimanis, Sabah.

As for Coca-Cola, he said the new bottling plant would be using advanced technology.

Najib said he would announce the value of the investments later as the Government was still working out the details of some of the tax incentives requested by the companies.

He was speaking to reporters after meeting with officials from the companies at the Apec CEO Summit here yesterday.

On his discussions with potential investors from Singapore, Najib said they were interested in sectors such as hotels and setting up of electrical, furniture and bedding retail chains.

“Singaporean small and medium-sized industries are also interested in relocating some of their factories to Iskandar Malaysia while Jetstar Airline wants to increase its flights to Malaysia,” Najib said.

He added that the Singaporeans were also willing to help promote Malaysia to their Russian counterparts for investments in real estate.

Najib said he had also assured investors that problems such as Johor Causeway traffic jams, narrow access into the new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ), potholes along the Kota Kinabalu runway and crime would be looked into.

He said he had directed Malaysia Airports Bhd to look into the runway problem as well for the the checks manned by the Johor Customs Department to open beyond midnight.

Asked about reports that United States was not keen on inking a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia, Najib said he hoped to get an official response on the matter from President Barrack Obama.