KUANTAN: The land purchase agreement signed between Pasdec Holdings Bhd (Pasdec) and Petroluxe Refinery (M) Sdn Bhd (Petroluxe) last Nov 13 was for a 99-year lease of land in Gebeng for industrial use, said Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.
He said under the agreement, Petroluxe will build an integrated oil refinery complex involving investments amounting to about RM3 billion.
As an investor who is investing a large amount of money to build a high-capacity plant, Petroluxe needs a guarantee that it can use the refinery site continuously, he said.
He added that Petroluxe is a local company registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia and its majority shareholder is Unigrand Petroluxe Sdn Bhd.
“Therefore there is no issue of direct ownership by a foreign company,” he said, adding that Petroluxe has obtained approval in principle from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI)) and the Malaysian Industrial Development Board (MIDA)) to set up the refinery.
“This investment will have a positive impact on the economic growth of Pahang as well as multiple economic effects and sustainability by creating high-income job opportunities for the locals,” he said in a statement today.
As such, he said the people should not be misled by PAS that Pasdec is selling the land to outside parties.
He said the sale of land to foreign investors for industrial development is not new and has been practised for a long time not only in Pahang but also in other states for economic growth.
According to Wan Rosdy, through the agreement, Pasdec, a public company listed on Bursa Malaysia, will have about two per cent equity in the joint venture company.
“Through its subsidiaries, Pasdec carries out real estate development, project management and construction activities. As a real estate developer, Pasdec develops land banks through joint ventures or sales to parties that will advance certain projects. It is an ordinary course of business for Pasdec.
“(Thus) through the sale of the land, Pasdec can speed up the construction of housing and commercial projects that have been planned and this will give more Pahang people the opportunity to own comfortable homes at reasonable prices,“ he said.
