This is a study carried out on behalf of a Malaysian federal government agency for the state of Sabah. The core idea of developing a Free Economic Zone (FEZ) in Sabah's capital is to establish an industrial base that will eventually address issues in logistics and trade that hold back the state's economy. Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) occupies 8,300 acres, more than half of which is designated for industry. The study seeks to establish strategic targets for KKIP and the parameters and planning for a FEZ that will help realise those targets. It will be the first Free Zone in Sabah and is intended to coincide with the development of a new container port in nearby Sepanggar Bay. For this project we worked with a Hong Kong-based economics team that had previously done work in Sabah, complementing our ports-based expertise with their broader understanding of the underpinning macroeconomics.
We were appointed along with two study partners by Penang Port Sdn Bhd to carry out the master plan study for the future 30-year development of Penang Port. This involved designing for a challenging location, with Penang Port being a historic port that had been growing organically along with the surrounding urban setting. Much like European ports, this meant Penang Port would face planning constraints involving the different stakeholders that look to develop the state's coastline. This was a comprehensive study covering all dimensions except legal but had to be carried out within a short time frame of three months to meet the port's stakeholder demands. The plan we created enables the port to make the leap from a growing gateway port to an established, mature regional cargo centre. It also establishes the baseline requirements for the future of Penang Port that would guide the port operator in their future dealings with the location's various stakeholders.
We were called to help expand upon plans for Klebang in Melaka state to build a full-fledged maritime facility on a 1,000-acre island. From a rough initial port concept established by the client we had identified the commercial and industrial sectors that could work for such an undertaking. The concept that we finally settled upon was Melaka Port City, a facility that would serve to complement rather than compete with nearby ports in the Straits of Melaka.
We conducted a hydraulic study and produced a conceptual master plan with capex costings from which the project could progress. However, the project itself was shelved due to unfavourable conditions for the investor.
