# Terengganu: The Oldest Jawi Inscribed Stone and the Oil That Doesn't Show Up in State GDP

> A profile of Terengganu — capital Kuala Terengganu, the Sultan of Terengganu as Head of State, the Kertih petroleum complex, and the Terengganu Inscribed Stone, recognised by UNESCO as the earliest evidence of Jawi script in the Malay world.

- Category: states
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-07-24
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/states/terengganu

---

The two most famous things about Terengganu sit roughly 60 kilometres apart,
and both are hard to see.

The first is a slab of stone at Kuala Berang, deep in inland Hulu Terengganu,
carrying Jawi verses dated more than 700 years old. The second is out of
sight entirely — an oil and gas platform on the floor of the South China Sea
whose output, statistically, never enters this state's GDP accounts.

This article explains both, along with the state's official figures.

## Key facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Capital and administrative centre | Kuala Terengganu (Wisma Darul Iman) |
| Head of State | Sultan of Terengganu |
| Population (2025 estimate) | 1,246,900 |
| Land area | About 1,295,638.3 hectares |
| Coastline | 225 km, from Besut in the north to Kemaman in the south |
| Borders | Kelantan (north and northwest), Pahang (south and southwest) |
| 2025 GDP (2015 constant prices) | RM40.6 billion, growing 1.6 percent |
| Sources | DOSM; Official Portal of the Terengganu State Government |

## The Terengganu Inscribed Stone: earliest evidence of Jawi writing

The Terengganu Inscribed Stone is an inscribed stone bearing a ruler's
proclamation, written in the Malay language using the Arabic alphabet — that
is, Jawi.

The Memory of the World nomination documentation submitted by Malaysia to
UNESCO records the inscription as Malay writing in Jawi script, dated **702
Hijrah (1303 CE)**. UNESCO describes it as the earliest evidence of Jawi
writing in the Islamic Malay world of Southeast Asia, and listed it in
**2009** after nomination in 2008.

Its discovery site is Kuala Berang in Hulu Terengganu — the nomination
documentation also records Kuala Berang as a maritime trading centre of that
era. Standing there is the Inscribed Stone Memorial, a museum premises listed
in the Department of Museums Malaysia's directory. The original artefact is
displayed in a gallery at the Terengganu State Museum in Bukit Losong, Kuala
Terengganu, in the care of the Terengganu State Museum Board.

Why does it matter? Because it fixes a touchable date point on a major
transition in the history of Malay writing — from India-derived script to
Arabic-derived script. Everything written afterward in Jawi, from royal
letters through to the [Melaka Sultanate](/en/malaysia/melaka-sultanate),
stands behind that date.

An honesty note: public references give differing years of discovery, and the
dating inscribed on the stone itself has long been the subject of academic
debate. What can be verified against official sources is the discovery site
at Kuala Berang, the date 702 Hijrah (1303 CE) as recorded in the UNESCO
nomination documentation, and the Memory of the World listing in 2009. For
detailed discovery records, the Terengganu State Museum is the proper
reference.

## Geography and administration

Terengganu sits on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, bordering Kelantan
to the north and northwest and Pahang to the south and southwest. Its
coastline runs 225 kilometres from Besut to Kemaman.

Kuala Terengganu received city status on **1 January 2008**, branded as the
"Waterfront Heritage City". Its local administration began as a Town Board,
became a Municipal Council in 1979, before being upgraded to a City Council.

DOSM's 2025 district population estimates:

| District | Population |
| --- | --- |
| Kuala Terengganu | 248,400 |
| Kemaman | 235,000 |
| Dungun | 169,900 |
| Besut | 167,500 |
| Kuala Nerus | 157,500 |
| Marang | 128,800 |
| Hulu Terengganu | 74,800 |
| Setiu | 64,900 |

Of the 1,246,900 population, DOSM estimates 1,177,500 are Bumiputera Malay,
22,600 Chinese, 3,400 other Bumiputera, 2,000 Indian, and 39,000
non-citizens.

## Royal institution

The Head of State of Terengganu is the Sultan of Terengganu. His official
affairs are handled by the Office of His Royal Highness the Sultan of
Terengganu, based at Istana Syarqiyyah, Kuala Terengganu, which maintains its
own official portal.

The position of the Malay Rulers within the federal system is set out by the
[Federal Constitution](/en/law/federal-constitution). For full titles,
protocol and official announcements, the portal of the Office of HRH the
Sultan of Terengganu is the authoritative source; its homepage does not list
his personal name, so do not rely on secondary sources for the title.

## Economy: the oil that doesn't show up in state GDP

This is the part most often misread.

Terengganu's GDP in 2025 was **RM40,596.6 million** at 2015 constant prices,
growing 1.6 percent. That is 2.3 percent of national GDP (RM1,737.0 billion)
and places Terengganu 12th out of 16 states and Federal Territories.

Breakdown by sector, 2025:

| Sector | Value (RM million) | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Services | 21,499.1 | 53.0% |
| Manufacturing | 14,456.8 | 35.6% |
| Agriculture | 3,053.2 | 7.5% |
| Construction | 1,290.5 | 3.2% |
| Mining and quarrying | 233.3 | 0.6% |

Mining and quarrying is only 0.6 percent. For an "oil state", that figure
looks impossible — until you know how DOSM counts it.

DOSM's data catalogue explains that the **"Supra"** category is a residual
category for GDP that cannot be attributed to any particular state,
especially in the mining and quarrying sector. In 2025, Supra was worth
**RM43,257.4 million** — and all of it is mining and quarrying. That value is
larger than the whole of Terengganu's GDP.

In other words: offshore petroleum production is not booked as Terengganu's
GDP. What is counted is onshore downstream activity — and that shows up as
**manufacturing**, not mining. That is why manufacturing contributes more
than a third of the state's economy.

That downstream activity is centred at Kertih, Kemaman. PETRONAS Gas Berhad
operates the Kertih and Santong (Paka) Gas Processing Plants, as well as the
Kertih Utilities Plant within the Kertih Integrated Petrochemical Complex.
The Peninsular Gas Utilisation pipeline network began at Kertih: PGU I has
connected Kertih to Teluk Kalong over 32 kilometres since 1983, and the
overall network now runs 2,675 kilometres. Full background on the national
petroleum regime is in [PETRONAS and the oil and gas
sector](/en/economy/oil-gas-petronas).

## State finances: where the money comes from

The Terengganu State Budget 2026 speech gives a clear picture.

- Operating Expenditure: **RM1.938 billion**, including a RM450 million
  contribution to the Development Fund
- State-generated revenue: **RM288.59 million** (RM85.36 million Tax
  Revenue, RM203.23 million Non-Tax Revenue)
- Non-Revenue Receipts: **RM1.709 billion**
- Total revenue: **RM1.998 billion**, a three percent surplus

Note the ratio. Revenue generated by the state itself is about 14 percent of
total revenue; the rest comes from Non-Revenue Receipts.

The legal framework is the **Petroleum Development Act 1974 (Act 144)**,
assented to on 30 July 1974 and coming into force on 1 October 1974. Section
2 vests full ownership and the exclusive right to explore for and produce
petroleum, whether onshore or offshore Malaysia, in a corporation — namely
PETRONAS under section 3. Section 4 provides that, in consideration, the
corporation shall make cash payments to the Federal Government and the
Government of any relevant State in such amounts as agreed between the
parties concerned. The Act does not fix a percentage rate.

Petroleum-related payments to Terengganu have been channelled as **Wang
Ihsan**. A Ministry of Finance statement on 8 April 2024 reported the
disbursement of RM172.3 million to the Terengganu State Government and RM58.6
million to Kelantan, plus an additional RM103.1 million to Terengganu for
contractor obligations. The same statement stated that Wang Ihsan is not a
Federal Government grant enshrined in law.

## Where the state economy is heading

The 2026 Budget lists several officially trackable directions:

- Kemaman LNG regasification, and plans for partial working interest
  ownership in active oil and gas wells in Peninsular Malaysia
- Feasibility studies for a hydrogen and green ammonia plant, and a
  fertiliser factory
- Gong Badak Halal Park Industrial Area Extension
- Expansion of Kemaman Port, a spur line from the ECRL Chukai Station to
  Kemaman Port, and transit-oriented development around the ECRL station
  area
- Visit Terengganu Year 2027, with a dedicated secretariat established

The 2026 Development Expenditure allocation favours the social sector
(RM323.80 million, 72.0 percent), followed by the economic sector (RM92.84
million, 20.6 percent) and administration (RM33.37 million, 7.4 percent).
National macro context is in [Malaysia's GDP
overview](/en/economy/gdp-overview), and the tourism side in the [tourism
sector](/en/economy/tourism).

## Common misconceptions

**"Terengganu is among the richest states because of oil."** Its state GDP
ranks 12th out of 16. Offshore petroleum value-add is not allocated to the
state in state GDP accounts.

**"A five percent oil royalty is fixed in Act 144."** Section 4 of Act 144
refers to cash payments "as agreed between the parties" — with no rate set
in the statute.

**"Wang Ihsan is the same as royalty."** The Ministry of Finance states that
Wang Ihsan is not a grant enshrined in law. Do not use the two terms
interchangeably in official work.

**"Terengganu has seven districts."** The state portal still lists seven;
DOSM reports eight, with Kuala Nerus. Confirm according to your intended use.

**"The Inscribed Stone is kept at the National Museum."** It is at the
Terengganu State Museum. The one at Kuala Berang is the discovery-site
memorial.

## What's next

For current data, start with OpenDOSM for state-level GDP and population —
both datasets are updated annually and downloadable as CSV. For state
finances, the Terengganu State Budget speech is published on the state portal
every November.

If your interest is on the heritage side, the Inscribed Stone Memorial at
Kuala Berang and the Terengganu State Museum are two distinct stops and both
are worthwhile. For the closely related East Coast state craft, see
[batik](/en/arts-culture/batik).

To compare state economic structures, [Sarawak](/en/states/sarawak) offers
the most useful contrast: there, mining and quarrying does show up in state
GDP, because most of its production can be allocated. [Johor](/en/states/johor)
in turn shows a state economic model driven by manufacturing and border
proximity.

## Sources

- Jadual KDNK Negeri Mengikut Sektor Ekonomi (harga malar 2015) — https://open.dosm.gov.my/data-catalogue/gdp_state_real_supply (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM))
- Jadual Penduduk: Negeri — https://open.dosm.gov.my/ms-MY/data-catalogue/population_state (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM))
- Geografi Negeri Terengganu — https://www.terengganu.gov.my/index.php/ms/kerajaan/mengenai-terengganu/geografi-negeri-terengganu (Portal Rasmi Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu)
- Ucapan Belanjawan Negeri Terengganu Tahun 2026 — https://tsis.terengganu.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Buku-Ucapan-Bajet-2026.pdf (Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu)
- Akta 144 — Akta Pembangunan Petroleum 1974 — https://lom.agc.gov.my/act-detail.php?act=144&lang=BM (Jabatan Peguam Negara (AGC), Laws of Malaysia)
- Kerajaan Persekutuan Salur Wang Ihsan Lebih RM230 Juta Kepada Terengganu Dan Kelantan — https://www.mof.gov.my/portal/ms/berita/akhbar/kerajaan-persekutuan-salur-wang-ihsan-lebih-rm230-juta-kepada-terengganu-dan-kelantan (Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia)
- Memorial Batu Bersurat — https://www.jmm.gov.my/en/node/5472 (Jabatan Muzium Malaysia)
- Batu Bersurat Terengganu (Inscribed Stone of Terengganu) — Memory of the World — https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/batu-bersurat-terengganu-inscribed-stone-terengganu (UNESCO)
- PETRONAS Gas Berhad — Our Presence — https://www.petronas.com/pgb/about-us/our-presence (PETRONAS Gas Berhad)
- Latar Belakang Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu — https://www.mbkt.gov.my/en/mbkt/profile/background (Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu)
- Pejabat Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Terengganu — https://www.istana.terengganu.gov.my/ (Pejabat KDYMM Sultan Terengganu)

---
Source of truth: https://github.com/negaraku-md/NegaraKu.md
License: CC BY-SA 4.0