Sabah expects investment momentum in SDC to gather pace
Published on: Thursday, August 28, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah expects the investment momentum in the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) to gather pace, especially with economic recovery in the US and European Union and the attention of global investors shifting to Asia, especially Asean countries.Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman, said the disbursements for projects in SDC for the 2008-2014 period under the Ninth and Tenth Malaysia Plans were currently at RM1.45 billion."This is 82.8 per cent of the total federal government allocation of RM1.75 billion received by the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) as at the end of July this year," he said.ADVERTISEMENT Musa, who also Sabah Finance Minister and Sedia chairman, said over the same period, a total of RM135 billion worth of cumulative investments had been planned and committed since the launch of the SDC in 2008, of which about RM45 billion had been realised.He said this at the opening of the 16th meeting of members of Sedia here.Musa said Sedia looked forward to the establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, which coincided with Malaysia assuming chairmanship of the ten-member Asean economies in January next year.He said the implementation of the AEC Blueprint was anticipated to allow greater ease in the movement of goods, services, investments and select professionals.ADVERTISEMENT Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"The emergence of Asean as a single market and production base as well as the liberalisation of the region's air transportation augurs well for Sabah as we will have access to a market of about 650 million people with about US$2.5 trillion gross domestic product," he said.Meanwhile, Musa also added that the decision by Petronas to give the Sabah State Government a 10 per cent stake in the LNG 9 project in Bintulu augurs well for the development of the oil and gas sector, and was expected to have a significant impact and spin off to the state's economy. - Bernama