Kuantan Is Set To Be Dubai Of East Coast...

Would Kuantan City be the Dubai of East Coast in future....What are the strengths of Dubai?

Its strategic geographic location made the town an important trading hub and by the beginning of the 20th century, Dubai was already an important regional port.

Today, Dubai has emerged as a cosmopolitan metropolis that has grown steadily to become a global city and a business and cultural hub of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region. It is also a major transport hub for passengers and cargo. Although Dubai's economy was historically built on the oil industry, the emirate's Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become symbolic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, such as the world's tallest Burj Khalifa, in addition to ambitious development projects including man-made islands, hotels, and some of the largest shopping malls in the region and the world.

Could Kuantan copy these happening of Dubai even a half of Dubai?

Kuantan is the state capital of Pahang, the third largest state in Malaysia. It is near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. If one measures the distance along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it is located roughly halfway between Singapore and Kota Bharu. Kuantan is the sixth largest city in Malaysia.

Kuantan as one of the future growth centres and a hub for trade, commerce, transportation and tourism. Kuantan is considered the social, economic and commercial hub for the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia due to its strategic location. Rapid development has transformed and modernized Kuantan. Since 2005, Kuantan has had many development projects, including Putra Square, Mahkota Square, Bukit Gambang Water Resort, Kuantan Sentral, Pahang Tech Park and Kuantan Port City. 

Recently, the introduction of Malaysia's first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Kuantan is designed to boost the regional economy, tourism and growth. In an effort to catalyse the growth of the Kuantan Metropolitan Precinct, the government has sited a petroleum manufacturing area in Pekan, a neighbouring town.

Kuantan will see many new developments including:

• Relocation of the state administration centre to its proposed site in Bandar Indera Mahkota (KotaSAS).
• Two tourist villages will be further developed, namely Cherating and Pantai Sepat.
• A conceptual idea has been initiated for a high-speed train linking Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan.
• Komuter Timur service linking Kuala Terengganu to Kemaman and Kuantan by 2014.
• The East Coast Railway project will spurs the Pahang economy

Many new townships have been developed around the suburbs.

Kuantan is being identified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The launch of SEZ in 2009 by Prime Minister DS Najib Tun Razak is of the first of its kind in Malaysia. The SEZ is located inside East Coast Economic Region (ECER) which stretches from Kertih to Pekan. It is now one of the large SEZs in Asia, covering 390,00 hectares. SEZ serves as a catalyst to fast-track the economic development in the east coast. SEZ aims to generate RM90 billion of investments and provide over 200,000 new jobs by 2020. At the center of southeast Asia with four seaports (Kuantan Port as the main gateway) and two airports, ECER SEZ will serve good transportation link between Indochina, India, and China.

The development master plan will offer special incentives to attract investors. Include tax exemptions, import and export duties exemptions and 100 per cent investment tax allowance.

Kuantan has undergone major changes throughout the past years to quickly emerge as a trade, commerce, tourism and transportation hub of the east coast.

Kuantan's population is approximately 607,778. The population is composed of 57% Malay, 32% Chinese, 10% Indian and 1% other races. According to the World Gazetteer. a calculation indicates that the annual population growth of Kuantan is the greatest among the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which is 3.88 in general.

The most populated town in Pahang had been earmarked for rapid progress under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) due to its position as the gateway to the Asia Pacific region.

Most recently, Kuantan had seen advancement in the establishment of the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP).

Launched by Prime Minister DS Najib Tun Razak, the RM2.5 billion park jointly developed between a Malaysian and Chinese consortium had already attracted investment commitments worth RM10.5 billion and is expected to be fully completed in two years.

Some 8,500 jobs are also expected to be created for locals from the setting up of the MCKIP.

Other than the MCKIP, Kuantan would also have another landmark tourist attraction with the development of the Kuantan Waterfront Resort City in Tanjung Lumpur.

The RM1.6 billion project is expected to boost not only the tourism sector but provide some 5,000 job opportunities, in addition to economic spill-over activities for locals.

The project sited on a piece of reclaimed land off the Tanjung Lumpur beach would cover a 202ha land area, some 2.5km from the shore.

The waterfront project will be constructed in five phases over a period of between 10 years and 15 years, comprising of hotel, residential, commercial, business, medical and health centres.

Some 25% of the project will have a marina and among the facilities available include a water theme park, aquaria, shopping outlets, duty free shops, terminal, floating restaurant, convention centre and hotel.

Pahang area with 36,137 km²   compare to UAE of 83,600 km²  but rich with natural resources, timber products, minerals -tin, gold, iron ore, agricultures, fishery products, chemical industries and the unexplored oil reserves at Pahang sea water.

Tourism remains the state's main income earner with large natural resources to entice visitors from highlands, rainforests, lakes, coastal areas and islands.

That Kuantan is set to be Dubai of East Coast will materialise in the future...