Sarawak has a potential hydro-energy of 20,000MW of clean electricity, with a total energy output of 87,000GWh per year, according to one study.

Sarawak state secretary Tan Sri Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani said the state had begun taking power from Bakun built and operated by the federal government in 2011.

“The first four machines commissioned are now delivering around 700MW. The remaining units will be commissioned over the next 12 months, achieving the plant’s full capacity of 2,400MW,” he said at the opening of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) World Congress entitled “Direction for Hydropower” in Kuching yesterday.

Sarawak Energy Bhd CEO Torstein Dale Sjotveit, said under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), hydropower projects would not only boost the potential of clean electricity resources but also give direct beneficiaries especially to the rural people in the state via the resettlement projects.

“We are now at the final stage of reconstructing the resettlement site for the Penan community in Murum and we expect to complete the construction over the next two months,” he told reporters at the same conference, according to a Bernama report. The three-day conference, attracting some 500 international participants is the first IHA World Congress held in South-East Asia.

In his speech, Mohamad Morshidi said Sarawak has long been recognised having a huge potential for the development of hydroelectric power by virtue of its high rainfall and suitable topography. In 1962, a first overall review of the hydropower potential of Sarawak was made by Australian engineers under the Colombo Plan programme.

Its first foray into hydropower at Batang Ai began in 1975, before the design was published in 1977. Construction started in 1982 with the river diversion work and the last turbine completed in 1985.

It was supported by finance from the Asian Development Bank. The installed capacity at Batang Ai is 108MW.

He said the Sarawak state government believes that the people of Sarawak deserve the same life opportunities, infrastructure and public services as people in Europe or Australia or indeed anywhere else in the world. From this premise, he added that Sarawak has not only the right, but duty to develop the State’s resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

“The gap between the circumstances of Sarawak and communities in the developed world remains significant. In 2011, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Australia was US$41,000 (RM123,738) and for Malaysia, the equivalent number is US$9,800.

“In Sarawak, the GDP per capita was US$12,400. Furthermore, the fact that 50% of Sarawak’s population is under 25-years old and that our young people are enthusiastic consumers of education and training, amplifies the need to create new economic opportunities for our community,” he said.

On SCORE, Mohamad Morshidi said its principal objective is to harness the state’s sustainable strategic advantage in the production of bulk electricity at global competitive prices to attract investment to the state.

“This massive investment generates new employment in semi-skilled and skilled occupations, which provide opportunity for the people of Sarawak to achieve higher income and better standard of living,” he added.

“We have proven the success of this strategy before when, from 1980 onwards, the town of Bintulu was developed through a single industry, liquefied natural gas, from a small fishing village of 5,000 people to what it is today — a modern town of 200,000 people generating at least 50,000 high income jobs,” said Mohamad Morshidi.

“All the energy from the Bakun and Murum hydroelectric projects has already been sold to customers from the aluminium, silicon and manganese industries. In this sense, the critical lesson from the SCORE project is that the active facilitation of a market for hydropower energy has transformed our vision into reality,” he said.

Guidance Investments (GI) has launched a RM150 million Shariah-compliant investment fund for equipment leasing for the Saudi Arabian market in partnership with Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), a company official said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

This is the first Middle East leasing fund supported by Tabung Haji which acted as the capital provider, while the US-based ATEL Capital Group, the equipment leasing company is to provide the machineries for the Saudi market.

“We have committed a total of RM150 million in the private equity fund in support of ATEL in this venture,” Tabung Haji CIO Abd Kadir Sahlan said. Tabung Haji and ATEL Capital signed an agreement for the leasing income financing fund during the launch ceremony.

The funds will be disbursed in phases over the next two to three years, depending on the deployment of the portfolio in the Saudi market.

“Tabung Haji is an institutional investor that invests both globally and locally and we are always looking for strategic investment portfolios with asset class equity,” Abd Kadir said to the press on the sideline of the event.

“This is a unique Shariah-compliant equipment leasing fund, which is a historic first for the companies involved. At the same time, we have formally launched our operations in Malaysia with the opening of our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur,” said the CEO of Guidance Investments Dr Hasnita Hashim.

Guidance Investments, which is part of the Guidance Financial Group (GFG), is an international investment firm specialising in Shariah-compliant investment management and advisory services.

“We definitely have plans to launch similar Shariah leasing for equipment in Malaysia but this will take one or two years, however, we firmly believe in Malaysia’s strength as a centre for Islamic Finance,” said Dr Hasnita to The Malaysian Reserve.

She added that the group has so far helped raised close to RM3 billion in the form of Shariah-compliant investment products. It recently assisted the Saudi Al-Bayan group in the first ever ringgit sukuk issued by a Saudi firm which raised RM200 million.

The partnership between Guidance Investments and Tabung Haji creates significant value in terms of scale, ideas and collaboration in the creation of new Islamic investment product, the chairman of GFG, Dr Mohamad Hammour said.

“The fund has attracted the participation of a significant and respected Islamic institutional investor, Tabung Haji of Malaysia, which has committed to the leasing programme as a cornerstone investor,” he said.

He also said the fund is a win-win thing, since it represents a lesser risk portfolio for the lessee and offers sound capital risk protected investment for the lessor.

The product provides Tabung Haji a unique Shariah-compliant investment opportunity in equipment leasing within the Middle East region, Abd Kadir said.

AEON Co (M) Bhd plans to invest RM240 million of the total RM350 million allocated for capital expenditure (capex) this year towards the establishment of a new retail outlet in Kulai Jaya in Johor and the refurbishment of its existing outlets, its chairman Datuk Abdullah Mohd Yusof said.

“The new retail outlet in Kulai is slated to be opened in December and would bring the total retail outlets to 31 stores in Malaysia, with further plans to open other outlets in other parts of the country,” he said after the company’s AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He said AEON would spend RM120 million for the refurbishment of its existing outlets.

“For a start, AEON would focus on the refurbishment of its Ipoh Kinta City outlet this year and this to be followed by the Bandar Puchong and Bandar Sunway outlets next year,” he said, adding that AEON would focus on the refurbishment of one or two shopping mall-cum-retail stores annually.

He said the renovation and refurbishment are a continuous process in order to maintain the freshness and sustainability of the shopping centres and stores.

On its financial performance this year, Abdullah said AEON’s performance is expected grow in tandem with the Malaysian economy, thus it is expected to do well with an expected increase in the company’s growth of 10%.

For the year ended Dec 31, 2012, the company posted a revenue of RM3.26 billion on the back of a net profit of RM212.83 million.

On its market share, he said the retail market in Malaysia is estimated to be around RM83 billion, of which AEON has a sizeable share of the market.

On the proposed implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and the expected impact on AEON, Abdullah said the broad-based tax is designed for the whole country and the company does not see any significant impact on its earnings after GST is implemented.

Star Publications (M) Bhd will spend between RM20 million and RM30 million to revamp its Star online portal in its effort to generate new income stream for the group.

Its non-independent ED and executive deputy chairman Datuk Vincent Lee Fok Long said moving forward, the company is pushing towards strengthening its online presence on the back of the growing trend of people accessing digital version of its newspaper on their mobile gadgets.

“Our quest to develop the most effective media business models has also led to the introduction of ePaper — an example for print and digital channel integration, and one which provides readers a new approach in the way they choose to consume media,” he said.

Lee said the first roll-out of the revamp of its online portal will kick off July 1, 2013.

Lee added that the company have also reinvented and digitised some products within its portfolio including beefing up of its Internet classified portal due to strong online alternatives and revamping myStarjob.com and StarProperty.my. “By the second-quarter of financial year 2013, we aim to launch a new motoring classified portal,” he added.

Besides that, the company chairman Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, in The Star’s annual report, said many initiatives have been put into place to diversify the group’s media assets and to strengthen its digital platforms.

“Some of these efforts have started to yield results, while others will need a bit more time before producing a positive impact,” he said in the annual report.

To date, Dr Fong said the company’s ePaper circulation is close to 50,000 copies a day.

“This puts us in good position to keep our newspaper business relevant as we expect digitalisation of media platforms to pick up pace in the years ahead,” he added.

Meanwhile, on May 15, The Star has denied the rumour that there are plans for a management buyout from its major shareholders, the Malaysian Chinese Association.

Dr Fong, in a statement, said neither the management nor the staff had initiated such a plan.

MCA on the other hand had also denied the claims, saying any decision on the assets has to have the support of at least two-thirds of the party’s central committee members (CC).

“The CC can also ask for an EGM to decide,” MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was quoted by a news report as saying yesterday.