Only 6pc went to Sabah: Envoy
Published on: Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Alor Setar: An aggressive and positive approach coupled with effective and conducive investment plans would attract more foreign investment into Sabah.Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Husni Zai Yaacob who brought a business delegation from the island republic for business matching and networking purposes revealed that out of the total approved investment from Singapore into Malaysia in the manufacturing sector last year, only six per cent went to Sabah.Two projects, he said, were approved last year creating 250 jobs in the Chemical and Chemical Products sector.
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"The total investment of the city-state in Sabah is, however, quite substantial at about a billion ringgit in the service sector and other sectors such as hotels but I believe the number can be improved with incentives that would be able to attract more foreign investment from Singapore to Sabah," he said during a business luncheon held at Shangri-la's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa here, Monday.Also present were Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Deputy Chief Minister cum Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan and representative of the Singapore business delegation, Datuk Sam Goi.Husni also announced that the Singapore government had extended an invitation to Musa to make an official visit to Singapore."I hope the Chief Minister can find time to visit Singapore as soon as possible and to bring along a business delegation from Sabah to Singapore," he said.
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In his speech, Musa said Sabah cannot expand its economy by depending merely on domestic investment alone especially in the often challenging and competitive era of globalisation."For Sabah to expand its economy, we need to attract a bigger share of foreign participation in the local economy, continuously seek overseas business partners and engage in new opportunities, especially in identified growth sectors.
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"In view of this, the State government and Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) in particular, continue to undertake aggressive measures to promote foreign investment into the State."In this regard, we view Singapore as a close trade and business partner, recognising the potential to be had from consolidating our efforts."In recent years, there have been several trade and investment missions to Singapore, organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and also the International Trade and Industry Ministry and we have made sure that Sabah has had a presence during these missions," he said.He added that Sabah has much to offer, with opportunities for growth in several sectors, including in agriculture, oil and gas, tourism, palm oil and logistics.Musa said among measures in place to attract foreign investment is a tax incentive package under the Sabah Development Corridor meant to enhance the corridor's competitiveness in securing investment and its offering varied based on the focus areas."It includes offering incentives such as full tax exemption on statutory income for up to ten years, investment tax allowance of 100 per cent on qualifying capital expenditure for five years and full exemption on import duty and sales tax exemption, subject to current policy."The period for tax incentives are for applications received by Sedia up until Dec 31, 2020."These incentives are available for investment in designated strategic development areas, clusters, and flagship projects, including the Kinabalu Gold Coast Enclave, Sabah Agro-Industrial Precinct, Sandakan Education Hub, Sabah Oil and Gas Industrial Park, Interior Livestock Valley, Marine Integrated Cluster and the Lahad Datu Palm Oil Industrial Cluster," he said.The Singapore business delegation was joined by a Japanese investor Itaru Nishimura, the President of GSP Senai Sdn Bhd who is interested in property development projects in Sabah.The other members of the delegation were Octopus Group Holdings Pte Ltd Executive Chairman Dato' Elaine Teh and Chief Executive Officer Andy Lim and MCC Land (Singapore) Pte Ltd Managing Director Tan Zhiyong. Both companies are also exploring property development opportunities in Sabah.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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