ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
Teruntum Tower – A 180 meter tower landmark in Kuantan Pahang
Kuantan serves as the administrative and commercial capital of Pahang. Trade and commerce are important in the economy of the town together with the timber and fishing industry. Kuantan’s new developments include:
– Relocation of the state administration centre to its proposed site in Bandar Indera Mahkota
– Kuantan Port City consist of Kuantan Port expansion, Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, and Kuantan Integrated Biopark
– East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan
– Kuantan Waterfront Resort City at Tanjung Lumpur.
– Greater Kuantan development that stretches from Kertih, Terengganu to Pekan, Pahang.
Tourism has also emerged as a big contributor to the town’s development. Kuantan is famous for the production of handicrafts, batik, keropok (dried fish crackers) and salted fish from local enterprises.
An industrial sector has also emerged with petrochemical industries, mostly in Gebeng, an industrial area about 25 km north of Kuantan. Among the major companies operating in Kuantan are BASF PETRONAS Chemicals, MTBE/Polypropylene (M) Sdn Bhd, BP Chemicals, MTBE, Flexsys, Bredero Shaw, Eastman Chemical, Kaneka, Polyplastics, Mieco, KNM, JiKang, W.R. Grace, Cryovac, Wasco Pipeline Coatings, and AMC
ECER Special Economic Zone
The launch of the East Coast Economic Region in 2009 has been planned to be an economic game changer for the state and the east coast region. Stretching from Kertih in Terengganu to Pekan in Pahang it is one of the largest SEZs in Asia, covering 390,000 hectares.
ECER SEZ aims to generate RM90 billion of investments and provide over 90,000 new jobs by 2020. Four seaports with Kuantan Port as the main gateway and two airports are being constructed to facilitate transportation between Indochina, India and China.
The development master plan offers special incentives including tax exemption, import and export duties exemption and 100 per cent investment tax allowance for investors.
