Gas grid is Abac's ambition

By Yoke Har Lee

An ambitious proposal for a $US8 billion ($15 billion) Asian gas grid project with Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a patron could emerge the largest tangible result of the Apec Business Advisory Council's input to help build Apec economies' capacity to compete on equal footing in a liberalised market.

The Partnership for Equitable Growth Taskforce was set up in 1998 under Abac's economic and technical cooperation ambit.

It is now a non-profit organisation acting as a catalyst to get the gas pipeline project going as part of the new thinking among some Asian Apec members wanting to help their neighbours compete equally. Helping an economy build capacity to be able to compete in an open market, through technical and economic cooperation, is one way.

The Asian gas grid project is a cross-border project involving producers and consumers. It will work only if Apec governments can cut the red tape for the gas pipes to be laid in the sea across territories.

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, chairman of the task force, and chief executive of Malaysian company YTL, is eager to see this happen.

His staff, with expertise as Malaysia's largest infrastructure development company, are working on the blueprint for this concept, promoting the concept to businessmen in Apec countries, and undertaking the basic groundwork work.

In theory, the sub-sea gas pipeline, measuring almost 5000 km, is to run from Indonesia's recently rediscovered gasfield Natuna, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and

"There is no economic impediment to the gas grid project," Tan Sri Yeoh said." It is ready for pre-feasibility work. Now what we need to do is to remove the political and Government impediments to get on with the work."

If Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad lends his name as patron of the gas grid project, there is a high chance Malaysia will not face major bureaucractic problems.

What remains to be seen is how other countries can respond politically, because the businessmen only have to consider the feasibility.

For Tan Sri Yeoh, the economic and technical cooperation part of Apec business input can be raised to a new height when this materialises.

"It is unfortunate there is always that pall of politics behind Apec. I find that is the greatest threat to Apec's future."

He said the Apec leaders appeared to believe the gas grid idea was good.

"We just have to pray politics don't get to cast their pall."