BINTULU, Feb 15 — There will be vast opportunities for highly skilled jobs available for local Sarawakians with major investments coming to Bintulu, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said today.

He said state-owned Sarawak Petchem Sdn Bhd, in a joint venture with local and foreign interests, will set up a US$3 billion (RM14.3 billion) ammonia plant in Tanjung Kidurong this year.

"This plant will offer highly skilled jobs, that means, a few hundred engineers and management executives,” he said at the Bintulu Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Chinese New Year open house here.

He said the plant is next to Petchem’s methanol plant, while the production of ammonia is to meet the global market demand for ammonia, particularly in Europe and the Far East.

"Another major investment, worth US$1.5 billion, is the setting up a graphite manufacturing plant to produce high-end spherical natural graphite and synthetic graphite,” he said.

He said this plant is the first in Southeast Asia to be set up and will position Bintulu as a leading global source of carbon-neutral graphite supply, particularly in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) battery markets.

He added the investment in the graphite manufacturing plant is projected to generate about 1,000 jobs.

The premier said he is sure that Sarawak will take over Bintulu Port from the federal government in June this year, as this had already been decided by both the state and federal governments.

"With all these in place, our state revenue will increase and the number of jobs that require technical skills will be also increased,” he said, meaning that the standard of skills of the workforce will have to upgraded to meet the demand.

He said the free tertiary education at state-owned universities slated to start in 2026 will emphasise technical courses, such as engineering and computer sciences.

He said after Kuching, Bintulu will be next to have autonomous rapid transit (ART) vehicles to operate.

He added the future of BIntulu is bright with a properly planned development being implemented by the state government.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, Food Industries, Commodities and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Stephen Rundie, Tanjung Batu State Assemblyman Johnny Pang and community leaders were also present at the open house.