16/01/2009 (Bernama), Lahad Datu - The Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu set up about two years ago by the Sabah state government is intended to lead industrial development in the state.

POIC Sdn Bhd's chief executive officer Dr Pang Teck Wai said the task given to POIC is one of the state government's strategies to boost economic and social development in Sabah, turning it into a developed state.

"From the state government's perspective, we always talk about development and look forward to developing the state. The state government wants to use POIC as the main vehicle to lead industrial development," Pang said.

"All nations want industrialisation. Industrialisation is very important for any development process. With industry, you have jobs and investment opportunities," he said.

"Developed nations are measured on how industrialised they are because industrialisation provides the value adding to their raw materials," he told Bernama in an interview here.

Considering Sabah's position as one of the largest palm oil producers in the country, the state made the right decision to fully utilise this advantage by multiplying palm oil products, Pang said.

He said Sabah was once among the biggest timber and cocoa producers in country but during that period, the raw materials were not multiplied but exported abroad.

"We were the fourth largest producer of cocoa but did not have a single chocolate manufacturing factory in Sabah. All the raw materials were exported elsewhere," he added.

Pang said local and foreign investors should take advantage on Sabah's position as a large palm oil producer to set up manufacturing companies to produce downstream products based on palm oil.

According to him, by venturing into palm oil-based downstream products in the 2,023-hectare POIC industrial area, the contribution of the palm oil sector to the state economy as well as the national economy could be doubled or tripled.

"Today, the total exported value of palm oil from Sabah is about RM8 billion. If we know how to value add, the RM8 billion could be increased to between RM30 billion and RM40 billion," he said.

POIC is managed by the state government's owned POIC Sdn Bhd and located near the township of Lahad Datu.

Besides basic amenities like water, road and electricity, the POIC industrial site also has a port built at a cost about RM94 million with a draft in excess of 20 metres.

POIC Port is equipped with a 500-metre oil jetty pipe stretching into the sea and can accommodate vessels of 100,000 deadweight tonnes (DWTs).

In the next 20 years, if things go as planned, Lahad Datu will become the largest city in Sabah due to its ability to create job opportunities that will attract more people, Pang said.