Phoong Jin Zhe (fourth right, right seating) during the meeting with management team of China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) during the work visit to China recently.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah government is keen to attract renewable energy (RE) investments from China following a recent delegation trip to the republic led by state Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Phoong Jin Zhe.
Phoong, during the five-day working visit from April 15 -20, met up with the management team of the China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) and China Tianying (CNTY) in their respective headquarters in Beijing.
The delegation included the ministry’s permanent secretary Datuk Thomas Logijin, Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Nasser Abdul Wahid, POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Fredian Gan, as well as representatives from Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP), Sipitang Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC) and Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC).
CEEC previously paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, said Phoong in a statement here on Tuesday (April 25).
"CEEC has shared with us several proposals on developing clean energy such as hydro, solar and others.
"Meanwhile, CNTY - a company with expertise in RE generation - has also shared with us their technology on converting waste to energy (WtE) and also energy vaults.
"As our neighbour, Sarawak is already looking into developing hydrogen power plants, we must not lag behind and miss the opportunity to explore more clean and renewable energy sources," said Phoong.
On his Facebook page, he shared that he also extended an invitation to China Tianying’s team to visit Sabah and assist in offering solutions to the state in increasing its power generation capacity.
He also said that CEEC is committed to investing in Sabah and helping with the state issues such as providing sufficient electricity and water supply through modern infrastructure.
During the trip to Xiamen and Beijing, Phoong also visited the Trade Development Bureau (TDB) of China’s Ministry of Commerce.
TDB director Wu ZhengPing extended an official invitation to him to attend the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November in Shanghai.
The minister also visited the Embassy of Malaysia in Beijing as well as the Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (Mida) office.
The delegation also paid a visit to SBH Kibing's factory in Zhangzhou, as the manufacturing factory would be identical to the factory that is about to operate in KKIP in the fourth quarter of this year.
“The Kibing Solar group is one of the most prestigious companies in China producing photovoltaic glass for solar panels.
"We shared our aspirations with the Kibing group that we hope to see more Sabahans being employed at the Sabah's branch during our luncheon with local Sabahans that were sent to Zhangzhou for training earlier.
"This is also in line with my ambitions to witness more skill and technology transfer to our youths as we develop our industries," said Phoong.
