Northern Territory values Sabah ties
Published on: Friday, September 23, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Australia's Chamber of Commerce Northern Territory Chief Executive Officer Greg Bicknell comes to Sabah at least once a year, especially for the Sabah International Exhibition (SIE), due to Northern Territory's special ties with Sabah, hence their continual participation in the trade show to maintain the relationship since the Berjaya era.At the Sabah International Exhibition 2016, the booth of Australia's Northern Territory nearby the hall entrance features many of its security, educational and management courses and trade directory and services information, and a basket of its famous mangoes that are first exported to other cities in Australia, and from there to the world, not available in Sabah though.Northern Territory's capital Darwin is the largest live cattle export capital in the world. Australian companies and consultants were involved in many business deals in the past.
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Greg Bicknell hopes that more of its products and produce would find its way into Sabah's market in the way that Australian beef and dairy products have over the years.Like Sabah with lots of petroleum reserves, the Northern Territory also has a fast-growing reputation in oil and gas education and training through the North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas at Charles Darwin University.Sabah once had a cattle farming range there until it was controversially disposed off by the then Sabah government in the opposition for funds suffering under a federal embargo due to political differences, a decision that was rued until today, but nevertheless such business ties remain with Northern Territory that today still supply meat to many Asian countries, as Sabah could have.Bicknell is a man who understands testy state-federal relationship as the Northern Territory was also on the backburner by past Australian central governments from tourism promotion to other federally planned development, except for Australia defence industry with training sites, bases and a US Marines contingent on rotation in Darwin.
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Its port came under Mainland Chinese business management interests recently, while other Australian states scrutinise China's investors with suspicion, it's very open in Northern Territory."Sabah and Northern Territory share many things in common. Chinese tourists are thronging both places.
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Tourism is a major employer and a significant economic driver for the Northern Territory economy. In 2015, more than 1.5 million visitors came to the Northern Territory, worth nearly A$2 billion in visitor spending with two of Australia's World Heritage-listed attractions – Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Parks. "In 2015, 41 cruise ships brought 59,000 tourists to Darwin. (Kota Kinabalu is also a cruise ship destination, the gateway to Mount Kinabalu World Heritage Site.)"He agrees that without direct airline flight and shipping connections with Darwin from Sabah, public perception of Northern Territory here remains vague as far as people-to-people ties are concerned."Malaysia Airlines CEO who spoke at the business luncheon mentioned about looking at new routes, hopefully it's up to him to consider Kota Kinabalu-Darwin, other than the existing Kuala Lumpur-Darwin sector. Likewise, Silk Air flies direct from Singapore weekly," he said.Students and permanent residents from Sabah to Australia tend to settle in Perth and other Gold Coast areas and cities, although Northern Territory education institutions provide high-quality Australian qualifications that are globally recognised and respected.Its Charles Darwin University (CDU) has state-of-the-art teaching facilities mean students from Asia can study in a world-class environment closer to home. CDU is ranked in the top 2 per cent of university in the world and in the top 50 universities in the world under 50 years old.CDU was the first Australian University whose engineering programs were accredited by the Europe-based EUR-ACE, an accreditation framework that identifies high-quality engineering degree programmes.The Northern Territory is particularly renowned for its education expertise in engineering, disaster management and tropical health, serviced by three airports – Darwin International Airport, Alice Spring Airport and Ayers Rock Airport.The Northern Territory is closer to Asian nations than any other educational institution in Australia and is well known in the international student community as a safe and welcoming environment where students feel at home with quality accommodation and flexible work options for international students.The Northern Territory has one of the fastest-growing economies in Australia, which means there are plenty of work opportunities during their studies and on a post-study working visa.Northern Territory is an agribusiness power house and is known throughout the Asian region as the source of some of the world's best commodities, products and services, that economic migrants try to reach by sea from Indonesia. Refugees from South Asia and other parts mostly headed for Western Australia's coast.Seeing also what happened in Sabah and threats of terrorism radicalisation in future, the Government of Australia steadfastly rejected them into the country, and once signed a deal with Malaysia to take them or languish in camps outside and within Australia, mainly processed from Darwin.Asked on why Northern Territory is renowned for disaster management, Bicknell said that it was due to the Bali bombings that killed many Australians that a Malaysian varsity bomber maker was involved, that the Federal Government set up a base for disaster management in Darwin that later helped to move aid to the Philippines battered by Typhoon Haiyan quickly.The Northern Territory already has strong family and business connections with China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Many international students have relatives in the Northern Territory or know people who have already studied there.Its uranium power many of the world's nuclear reactors. Its petroleum energy supply provides 10 per cent of Japan's imports. It has some of the world's most sought-after commodities – gold, manganese, bauxite, base metals, phosphate and rare earth – that landed for processing in Kuantan, Pahang.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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