RM9.6bil Karambunai Resort City plan

In Sabah, a consortium comprising Prism Crystal Enterprises Ltd, Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong and group of companies together with landowners, Karambunai Corp Bhd and Petaling Tin Bhd, will develop the Karambunai Integrated Resort City (KIRC) with an investment of RM 9.6 billion.

Contributing a GNI of about RM9.319 billion by 2020 and creating about 11,002 jobs by then, this premier world-class ecotourism destination will leverage on Malaysia's competitive advantages in ecotourism and biodiversity, and feature tourism, health and eco-nature edutainment recreation facilities, he said.

This will also include a water theme park, water spectacles and fountain, cable car, mangrove research centre, harbour cruise, aqua and spa village amongst others.

Led by the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA), the "Pasar Komuniti" initiative (PAKAR) is a concerted effort to co-ordinate and amalgamate them in location with better facilities.

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Karambunai resort potential for 50,000 jobs

DEVELOPER and resort operator Karambunai Corp Bhd will build a RM6.5 billion integrated eco-nature resort in Karambunai that will help create thousands of employment for the locals.

CM Datuk Seri Musa said President of Karambunai Corp, Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong, briefed the Cabinet about the project on Tuesday.

He said the State Government agreed to the proposed billion-ringgit project.

"However, the company must fulfil the regulations already set," he said.

Given Sabah as a tourism destination State, he said the project over 3,339 acres in a single location is certainly huge and that over a period of 10 years, would create between 20,000 and 50,000 jobs.

He said the Cabinet has requested that the developer give priority to the people in Sabah with regards to the employment. The project also showed the Federal Government commitment to assist Sabah as a key eco-nature destination.

The government is also hoping to attract foreign direct investment (FDIs) with the establishment of the billion-ringgit integrated eco-nature resort.

"It is nature based and (would probably become) the best resort in Sabah controlled by a single owner," he said.

The principal contractor to build the integrated eco-nature resort is Beijing-based CCAG (China).

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Another award for Nexus Karambunai

KOTA KINABALU: Nexus Resort and Spa Karambunai has added another award to its collection by winning the prestigious 2010 World Luxury Hotel Awards in the ‘Luxury Family Hotel – Malaysia’ category recently in Bangkok.

“We are very proud of this recognition for our luxury amenities for families travelling with children,” says Ian Taylor Woodward, Group General Manager of Nexus Resort.

Families will appreciate the many specialised kids’ activities offered at this magnificent resort through a variety of beach and nature activities.

Families with children are able to enjoy breakfast on the airy deck of its Villas and Suites, participate in educational programs at Nexie Club (specially for children aged 4-11 years), cycling around the resort, jungle trekking at the 75-acre Nature Park or batik painting.

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Karambunai in the limelight after budget

Sabah-based Karambunai Corp seems to have received more than its fair share of attention in the past month.

More recently, it hit the limelight when recently-revealed Budget 2011 stated that Nexus Karambunai – a renowned resort in Sabah – had committed to develop an integrated RM3bil eco-nature resort.

Under the Karambunai integrated resort plan, there are plans to develop a 150ha eco-nature resort at Karambunai alongside a mangrove centre, water theme park and waterfront properties to push for higher return on investments. It is understood that the RM3bil investment will be privately funded, although there are yet to be any concrete details on how this funding will be raised and by whom.

The budget stated that the project would commence next year. In the same paragraph on the Karambunai initiative, the budget proposed that “to support the tourism industry, the Government will allocate RM100mil.” However, it is not clear if this means that the Government will actually invest that money directly into the Karambunai project.

The major shareholder of Karambunai is its president, Tan Sri Chen Lip Keong, who owns 43.9% stake in the company. The 62-year old also owns gaming company NagaCorp, which is listed in Hong Kong and operates a casino in Cambodia.

Having long languished as a penny stock, Karambunai Corp’s shares have been on an uptrend in recent weeks, recording its 52-week high yesterday at 26.5 sen. This stands in stark contrast to four months ago, when the stock price was hovering at a meagre 5 sen.

Still, scepticism abounds on Karambunai’s ability to execute this grand plan, not least because of its weak financial status. The company has been in the red for the past three financial years.

For the quarter ended June 2010, the company continued to remain in poor financial health, suffering losses of RM14.39mil from a previous loss of RM14.62mil. Revenue was up 7.78% to RM24.03mil. As of the period, the company had cash amounting to RM7.29mil. In addition, it has piled on huge debts with short-term borrowings of RM192.07mil and long-term borrowings of RM283.77mil.

This is not the first time the counter has witnessed such exuberance in the absence of any fundamental development. A month ago, the company made headlines when it was speculated that it would start a casino operation in Sabah.

The speculation came about from a proposal of the 500-acre “eco-nature” resort in Sabah by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) at the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) open day a month ago.

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