Sabah can rival S’pore: Madius
Published on: Monday, March 16, 2020
SANDAKAN: Sabah has the potential to be developed and be on par with Singapore, according to Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.He said looking at the map of the state and the island of Borneo, the east and west coast waters can become international shipping routes including to China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines to other countries such as Australia.
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He said international ships, however, did not stop at the state’s ports because there were no goods to be taken.
“Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s decision to move the capital city from Jakarta to Kalimantan is because of the trade opportunities available in the Lombok-Makasar Strait.
“Once transferred, they can build various facilities such as ports. This gives Sabah an opportunity to become an important port.
“We have the POIC port of Lahad Datu and we are ready to attract investors here,” he added.
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Madius who is also State Minister of Commerce and Industry, said this when speaking at the opening of the Upko Libaran East Coast Gelombang Program at Pekan Muhibbah Peoples Housing Project (PPR) on Saturday (pic).
Commenting further, Madius said that compared to Singapore which is now a sovereign country after leaving Malaysia, the country’s wealth is many times that of Sabah.
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“When we understand today’s wealth comparison, we realise that we are actually poor, far poorer when compared to Singapore.
“Today, thousands of Sabahans leave university but have no jobs with unemployment in the state reaching 5.8 per cent,” he said.
In this regard, Madius, who is also Upko President, urged all leaders and people to focus on attracting investors to the state and promoting various fields including tourism in developing the state.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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