East Coast Economic Region

The East Coast Economic Region (ECER; Malay: Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur; Jawi: ولايه ايكونومي ڤنتاي تيمور) is an economic development region based on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which covers the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang, and the Johorean districts of Mersing and Segamat.^[1] ECER is also one of the three economic corridors launched in Peninsular Malaysia under the leadership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia. The other corridors are Iskandar Malaysia in Johor and the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) that covers the states of Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak. The ECER development program spans 12 years, beginning in 2007, and involves Public-Private Participation (PPP).

The master planner for ECER is the state-owned oil and gas company, Petronas,^[2] while the other private sector partner is the plantation group IOI Group, a public listed company. Both Petronas and IOI have a strong presence in the East Coast. The East Coast Economic Region Development Council was established to implement the master plan.

The ECER was launched by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Kuala Terengganu, the state capital of Terengganu and Kota Bharu, the state capital of Kelantan on 30 October 2007 and the following day in Kuantan, the state capital of Pahang. During the launch, the Prime Minister announced a RM 6 billion allocation as part of public investment in this development corridor. The investment is primarily in high-impact projects that will serve as catalysts for the socio-economic development of the region, which occupies almost half of Peninsular Malaysia, and lagged the West Coast states it in terms of income and investments.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who succeeded Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2008, continued the Malaysian leadership's commitment to corridor development, incorporating it into his Government Transformation Plan to bring to pass Malaysia's vision to become a high income developed nation in 2020. Two strategic initiatives under his leadership are ECER Special Economic Zone (ECER SEZ) and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park. Both are a first-of-its-kind initiatives in Malaysia, with the objective of fast-forwarding the inflow of FDI and industrialisation in the region.

According to the 2013 ECERDC Annual Report, as the end of 2013 the region had attracted RM55.8 billion in investments, well past the halfway mark of ECER's target of RM110 billion by 2020. An estimated 55,000 job opportunities have also been created in the region since 2007.